The End of Desertification? Catalogue en ligne

The question in the title of this book draws attention to the shortcomings of a concept that has become a political tool of global importance even as the scientific basis for its use grows weaker. The concept of desertification, it can be argued, has ceased to be analytically useful and distorts our understanding of social-environmental systems and their resiliency, particularly in poor countries with variable rainfall and persistent poverty. For better policy and governance, we need to reconsider the scientific justification for international attempts to combat desertification. Our exploration of these issues begins in the Sahel of West Africa, where a series of severe droughts at the end of the 20th century led to the global institutionalization of the idea of desertification. It now seems incontrovertible that these droughts were not caused primarily by local land use mismanagement, effectively terminating a long-standing policy and scientific debate. There is now an opportunity to treat this episode as an object lesson in the relationship between science, the formation of public opinion and international policy-making. Looking beyond the Sahel, the chapters in this book provide case studies from around the world that examine the use and relevance of the desertification concept. Despite an increasingly sophisticated understanding of dryland environments and societies, the uses now being made of the desertification concept in parts of Asia exhibit many of the shortcomings of earlier work done in Africa. It took scientists more than three decades to transform a perceived desertification crisis in the Sahel into a non-event. This book is an effort to critically examine that experience and accelerate the learning process in other parts of the world.

Note de contenu :

Introduction: The End of Desertification?

LESSONS FROM THE SAHEL
Desertification in the Sahel: Local Practice Meets Global Narrative
Changing Paradigms for People-Centred Development in the Sahel
Does Climate Change Lead to Conflicts in the Sahel?
The Map Is not the Territory: How Satellite Remote Sensing and Ground Evidence Have Re-shaped the Image of Sahelian Desertification
Desertification, Adaptation and Resilience in the Sahel: Lessons from Long Term Monitoring of Agro-ecosystems
Land and Natural Resource Governance: Development Issues and Anti-Desertification Initiatives in Niger

GLOBAL ISSUES
Deserts and Drylands Before the Age of Desertification
Where Does Desertification Occur? Mapping Dryland Degradation at Regional to Global Scales
Stephen D. Prince
Pages 225-263
40 Years of Climate Modeling: The Causes of Late-20th Century Drought in the Sahel
The Tragedy of the Common Narrative: Re-telling Degradation in the American West

REGIONAL AND COUNTRY CASE STUDIES
Pastoral System Dynamics and Environmental Change on Ethiopia’s North-Central Borana Plateau—Influences of Livestock Development and Policy
Humans Cause Deserts: Evidence of Irreversible Changes in Argentinian Patagonia Rangelands
Interpreting Environmental Changes in the Southern Bolivian Andes: Rural Responses and Political Actions
Media Perceptions and Portrayals of Pastoralists in Kenya, India and China
Much More than Simply “Desertification”: Understanding Agricultural Sustainability and Change in the Mediterranean
Land Degradation in Central Asia: Evidence, Perception and Policy
Rangeland Degradation Control in China: A Policy Review
Taking Down the “Great Green Wall”: The Science and Policy Discourse of Desertification and Its Control in China

OVERVIEW
Desertification: Reflections on the Mirage

Doi :

DOI : 10.1007/978-3-642-16014-1