Desert Development: How Does It Relate to Anti Desertification Measures? - Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - page 410

• The confusion between controlling the desert (a not unreasonable aim) and

desertification control has hindered land rehabilitation efforts. A consequence of
misunderstanding about desertification, fuelled by the belief that desert spreading
is the primary problem, is the planting of sand dunes. Planting, though costly,
is technically and logistically a simple operation now perfected by years of
investigation in Northwest China and in Iran (and elsewhere). The benefit/cost
ratio of planting is low or negative. But planting is visible and gives the
impression that something is being done. It allows government agencies to
avoid tackling the much harder social and economic problems of insidious land
degradation.

• Phenomena like desertification involve environmental, economic and social

factors. The combined effects have either been ignored or treated in a one-
sided manner. Progress in combating desertification will require a major re-
think and the application of holistic approaches such as Integrated Ecosystem
Management.

Keywords Integrated Ecosystem Management • Desert encroachment • Desert
margins • Land conversion • Population pressure • Holistic • Cost/benefit ratio •
Dryland development •

Water scarcity • Infrastructure • Transport routes •

Irrigation

1 Introduction

Desert development involving desert transformation is a recurring theme as evi-
denced by the number of international conferences on the subject (Box 20.1 ). Eleven
International conferences have so far been organized by the International Commis-
sion on Dryland Development (ICDD) and the twelvth is planned (Box 20.1 ).
Partly the desire to tame the desert is fuelled by the notion that 'man is dominant
over nature' but interest in the subject is driven by the growing pressure of human
population, the diminishing resource base and the widespread poverty that is a
feature of many desert regions. Even in desert areas where there is no permanent
habitation, protection of the infrastructure, pipelines, electricity transmission lines,
railways, and highways dictate that measures need be taken to tame the desert.
A clear distinction should be made between those interventions (Chaps. 2
and 3 ) designed to control desert encroachment (mainly tree planting, creation of
shelterbelts and erection of mechanical barriers) and land management practices
(designed to control dust storms, restore degraded rangelands, and arrest and reverse
soil erosion). Over emphasis on the former and neglect of the latter is commonly
observed throughout China's drylands (Yang Youlin et al. 2002 )andinsomeNorth
African and Middle Eastern countries (Omar et al. 1998 ; El-Beltagy et al. 2006 ).
It is now widely accepted that desertification is not the relentless advance
of desert but rather the development of land degradation in discrete sites, that
can coalesce and spread (Squires and Sidahmed 1998 ) but the threat of desert