on & development

lop. 20: 349–350 (2009)

Land Degrad. Deve

BOOK REVIEW

land degradati

CLIMATE AND LAND DEGRADATION, M.V.K.Sivakumar, N. Ndegwa (eds). Springer: Heidelberg,Germany, 2007. ISBN: 978-3-540-72437-7 (hardback),£130.50, xxviþ624 pp.

Thirty-three papers from the international workshop onclimate and land degradation combine together in this book,to provide anecdotes of how climate-related disasters andaverage climatic conditions are partly responsible formaking certain land types more vulnerable to degradation.This workshop, held in Arusha, in the United Republic ofTanzania (11–15th December 2006), was organised by theWorld Meteorological Organisation, the United NationsConvention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and theTanzania Meteorological Society (TMA). The principalobjective of the book is to both review the climatic drivers ofland degradation and then explore how data on weather andclimate can be better applied to assist the monitoring andreversal of adverse effects caused by this process.

The authors are practitioners and non-academic research-ers, such as those working for national agricultural depart-ments and natural resource centres. Their chapters are aimedat colleagues and organisations that are involved in thepractical implementation of mitigation measures, as well asthose policy makers working towards sustainable landmanagement. Chapters do not share a common structurewith traditional academic papers; nor do they explore ingreat depth the basic principles and concepts provided in soilscience text books. Therefore the book is not likely to suit theinterests of students or those exploring new methodologies.However, the book does provide a useful and valuableperspective from those who are working on the ‘front line’ ofland management and will be of interest to those working atthe interface of research, policy and practice.

The book appears to be divided into two parts concerningthe types of content. The first part (Chapters 1–7) provides ageneral overview of degradation and its geographical extent,which may leave the reader doubtful that the volume iscontributing anything new and fresh to the published arena.It labours the point about the status and trends of degradationin Africa, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean by including well-cited facts and repetitive paragraphs of definitions. In parts,concepts are lightly brushed over, and methods of assessingdegradation, such as the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equa-tion, are only given a cursory mention. Climate change isalluded to a few times in the book but the confidence inpredictions and discussions is shaken somewhat by outdatedreferences and arguments. In one particular instance, scenarios

Copyright # 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

from Global Circulation Models (GCMs) are cited from asource published in 1986, which is unusual in an area ofscience that becomes outdated in months rather thandecades. If the audience does require context and backgroundbasics on the issues of degradation, they may well benefit fromvisiting books such as those by Lal (1994), Williams andBalling (1996) and Sporton and Thomas (2002).

The second part of the book provides interesting insights,highlights and overviews of a wide variety of programmesand schemes that whet the appetite for learning more aboutother’s experiences in the effort to combat degradation.Examples are given from many areas of the world and provideeasy-to-understand case studies that avoid getting dilutedwith too much technical jargon. Issues concerning deserti-fication, soil salinisation and water erosion are all covered.Exemplars include the AussieGRASS modelling frameworkused in Australia (Chapter 11); the Namibian NationalDrought Policy and Strategy (Chapter 16); the PhilippineNational Action plan (Chapter 25); and the Medcoastlandproject (Chapter 23). Very rarely can so many diverseprogrammes and schemes be accessed in a single paper orbook and they help provide a quick overview of perceptionsand activities concerning degradation across the world.

The structure does not help the reader to find thesehighlights though. This is a shame as I really think the workwould benefit from some re-ordering of material andchapters. For example, the editors could have opted to dividethe chapters into the types of degradation experienced, asmost types are covered to varying degrees. In addition,examples are provided for several different countries andregions but are all mixed together, making it difficult forthose interested in one particular part of the world to findrelevant material. Overall, as a result, the chapters seem ill-connected and jump around from geographical place andapproach to topic as the reader travels through the sections.The opening and concluding chapters unfortunately do notprovide the structural backbone that is expected in a book ofthis type, with the concluding recommendations for usingclimate data providing seemingly little overlap with the mainbulk of the chapters coming before. In fact, the importanceof the concluding remarks is not highlighted enough in myview in the couple of pages dedicated to a few sparse bulletpoints.

Finally back to the title of the book. The reader should beaware that this is not a piece about climate change and futurepossibilities about the extent of land degradation in the 21stCentury and beyond. Rather, it is about how measuringclimate can help map, mitigate or understand degradationprocesses and impacts. If the audience is interested in case

350 BOOK REVIEW

studies about this then they will find some useful material inthis volume. I do find it a little strange that such emphasis hasbeen placed on climate when the current trend appears to beevaluating how anthropogenic influences have shapedpatterns of degradation and how the phenomenon isexacerbated so much more by the humans that live andwork on the land. Perhaps this is another workshop themeand therefore another book.

references

Lal R. 1994. Soil Erosion: Research Methods, 2nd ed. CRC Press:Boca Raton, FL.

Copyright # 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. L

Sporton D, Thomas DSG. 2002. Sustainable Livelihoods in KalahariEnvironments: A Contribution to Global Debates. Oxford Uni-versity Press, Oxford.

Williams MAJ, Balling RC. 1996. Interactions of Desertificationand Climate. Halsted Press: Arnold, London.

MELANIE KNIGHTThe Environment Division,

University of Sheffield,S10 2TN, UK

Published online 26 November 2008 in Wiley InterScience(www.interscience.wiley.com)

DOI: 10.1002/ldr.891

AND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT, 20: 349–350 (2009)

DOI: 10.1002/ldr