Soil Erosion in the Philippines

Soil erosion and desertification in the Philippines is greatly impacting the nation. One hundred years ago at least ninety five percent of the country was covered by lush rain forest. Over fifteen years, from 1990 to 2005 the Philippines lost one third of its forest due to relentless logging. Although the desertification rate has dropped from twenty percent in the 1990's to now a small percentage of two. Inhabitants of the Philippines have been around for thousands for years and with hundreds and hundreds of years of destructive agriculture. Farmers plow the valuable soil to plant their cash crops only for it to washed away by the seasonal rain. also farmers planting crops on steep slopes of the mountains just makes the soil runoff problem that much harder to control. The 'slash and burn' methods to clear out trees for farm land also only makes it worse. With no trees the soil is loosened and easier to be washed away. It takes roughly two hundred to a thousand years to form two and half centimeters of topsoil. On average, the Philippines farm lands are loosing two and half centimeters ever sixteen years. That is seventeen times faster than its being replaced.

As for whats being done, people of the Philippines know that there is a soil problem, many trying to cut back old ways and old habits. Unfortunately the poor farmers of the Philippines are desperate, and eager to get money from their crops. It's sad to know that their selfish ways with greatly impact the future generations of the Philippines.

Desertification in Jordan

The 1 % of green left in Jordan is expected to go in a few years. This is not good because it is a reliable source for people. It provides warmth, healthy air, food for animals, fruits and vegetables and much more. 92% of Jordan is desert which the people can not gain back for growing anything or bringing back the healthy green environment. Like National Geographic says “as a nation’s soil goes, so does the nation”. The last 7% is land that can’t be grown.
The cause of this dismay is that people are illegally logging the trees. “Also the increase of population causes a problem” says Mahmound Jneidi because that is more people who need warmth and more people who might have livestock grazing which is also a contribution to the problem. Mahmound Jneidi also says that construction is increasing and they need wood from the forest and that is taking away a lot of the green.
The one thing that is being done about this problem is that Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Iran are talking about agreements to combat desertification. That is one of the first steps towards helping this problem.

Soil Desertification in Afghanistan

What is the Issue?

In Afghanistan, one of the major problems is desertification. Desertification is land degradation of land caused by various factors. More than 70% of Afghanistan land is highly vulnerable to Desertification.  With Desertification being such a problem, it has been partially responsible for the droughts over the past years. With very little water over the past years, it has been very hard for the farmers to produce crops. More than a quarter of the Afghan population, 9 million, are facing a shortage of food and it has left small farmers all over Northern Afghanistan facing hunger.

Reasons for The Problem
The six main reasons for Desertification in Afghanistan are; increased fire frequency, water impoundment, deforestation, overdrafting of groundwater, increased soil salinity and global climate change. Over the past 25 years, Afghanistan has cut down countless trees and have destroyed countless forests. 70 percent of Afghanistan's throughout the country have been cut down in the past 2 decades, and forests helped regulate ground water levels.In the 1980's the Afghan government stated that 19,000 sqkm of 652,225 sqkm of land was covered by forest, which is a great source of income for the government and it's citizens. Recently, avalanches, landslides and floods have increased due to the high rate of deforestation. Also with desertification becoming a great threat to Afghanistan, many families are using trees as fire wood and for heat. Cooking has also raised the problem of land degradation which needs certain supplies of fuel and adds pressure to the depleted forests.

What is being done?


Biodiversity has been greatly threatened by desertification and some countries, such as Afghanistan has set up Biodiversity Action Plans to help slow down the rate of deforesting and desertification. Afghanistan is also trying out a process called Fruit Trees and Bees. Fruit Trees and Bees in a foundation that was brought together to help Afghan families out. If you donate $20 to the organization, an Afghan family with be provided shelter and 10 fruit trees.
Another way that is being done to help desertification in Afghanistan is places stones around trees and digging grooves around the trees which will help the survival of crops. Stacking stones around trees help collect due in the night which helps retain soil moisture. The grooves that are dug around the trees help collect rain water and trap wind-blown seeds.




Resources:

"Agriculture, Farming, Fruit Plantations, Honey, Afforestation in Afghanistan to Combat Desertification - Shelter Now." Humanitarian Aid in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Reconstruction, Development Aid - Shelter Now. Web. 22 Oct. 2010. <http://www.shelter-now.org/people-projects/fruit-trees-bees/>.

"IRIN Asia | AFGHANISTAN: Environmental Crisis Looms as Conflict Goes on | Afghanistan | Early Warning | Environment | Natural Disasters | Conflict." IRIN • Humanitarian News and Analysis from Africa, Asia and the Middle East - Updated Daily. Web. 22 Oct. 2010. <http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=73481>.

"Areas Highly Vulnerable to Desertification in Asia." Global Issues in Context Online Collection. Detroit: Gale. Global Issues In Context. Web. 22 Oct. 2010