1. GES 5625-ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
Seminar Presentation.
TITLE:
LAND DEGRADATION
Presented by:
Mwenya Mundende
514706075

2. Outline
1. Land degradation
2. Why is Land degradation a Problem?
3. Causes of Land degradation
4. Effects of Land degradation
5. Legislation on Land degradation
6. Recommendations and Conclusion

3. Land Degradation
• Land is a vital resource for producing food and other ecosystem goods and services
including conserving biodiversity, regulating hydrological regimes, cycling soil
nutrients, and storing carbon, to list but a few.
• Land degradation, can be defined simply as a reduction in the capability of the land to
support a particular use.
• Land degradation indicates temporary or permanent long-term decline in ecosystem
function and productive capacity. It may refer to the destruction or deterioration in
health of terrestrial ecosystems, thus affecting the associated biodiversity, natural
ecological processes and ecosystem resilience which ultimately hinders poverty
eradication and sustainable development (Scherr and Yadav, 1997).
• Degradation encompasses deforestation (tropical and temperate forests) and
desertification of drylands (arid, semi-arid and sub-humid regions).

4. Cont…
Land as a finite resource.
Source: Pugsley (2013)

5. Why is Land degradation a problem?
1. Economic: Land degradation costs an estimated US$40 billion annually worldwide (FAO,
2011). This cost is linked to:
• Efforts to reclaim or repair the degraded land
• Economic loss on the degraded land which could have been used for income generating
activities e.g. agricultural activities.
Degraded land is costly to reclaim and, if severely degraded, may no longer provide a range of
ecosystem functions and services with a loss of the goods and many other potential
environmental, social, economic and non-material benefits that are critical for society and
development.
2. Environmental:
• It is estimated that the loss rate to Land degradation is about 10 million hectares annually.
(FAO, 2011)
• 27,000 species lost each year due to Land Degradation.
3. Social
Land Degradation directly affects 1.5 billion people globally (Pugsley, 2013).

6. Cont…
• FAO (2011) suggest that about 70% of agricultural land suited for
raising livestock or crops is already severely degraded in Africa. The
low productivity of the land caused by land degradation causes low
crop yields, poor animal productivity and animal diseases.
• In Zambia, most of the population is dependent on agriculture, these
factors undermine social economic development, and continue to
deepen the poverty crisis. Furthermore at a global level, Zambia has
been identified as one of the top 10 GHG emitting countries as result of
deforestation and degradation (EIA, 2008).
• Deforestation in Zambia is estimated between 250,000 and 300, 000ha
per year (FAO, 2011)

7. Causes of Land degradation
Causes can be subdivided into two broad categories:
1. Natural activities
• Climate Change: Extreme
Droughts and Flooding
• Natural Hazards: Earthquakes,
landslides
2. Human activities
• Deforestation
• Unsustainable agricultural
practices: over cultivation, over
grazing
• Pollution; disposal and emissions
of hazardous material on the
land.
• Poor Waste Management; both
liquid and solid waste.

8. Effects of Land degradation
• Loss of biodiversity.
• Decline in the chemical, physical and/or biological properties of soil
• Increased Water and food insecurity; famine.
• Decline in economic productivity and national development
• Conflict over access to resources
• Increased GHGs emissions and concentration in the atmosphere.
• Migrations of affected populations.

9. Legislation on Land Degradation
INTERNATIONAL LEGISLATION
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) initiated in 1994 and it came into
force in 1996 after the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Zambia signed and ratified the Convention in 1994 and
1996 respectively.
- Article 5 of the UNCCD: address the underlying causes of land degradation and pay special attention
to the socio-economic factors contributing to land degradation processes;
- Article 10; the treaty requires States to develop a National Action Programme (NAP) for Combating
Desertification. Zambia developed its NAP in 2002.
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) of 1992 states
“integration of environment and development concerns”. Agenda 21 (Action Plan); Chapter 10:
Integrated planning and management of land resources is the subject of, which deals with the cross-
sectoral aspects of decision-making for the sustainable use and development of natural resources,
including the soils, minerals, water and biota that land comprises. This is in line with the provisions of
the UNCED.
Others include: United Nations Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) and United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) of 1992

10. NATIONAL LEGISLATION (ZAMBIA)
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ACT NO. 12 OF 2011: In the preamble the Act
provide for integrated environmental management and the protection and conservation
of the environment and the sustainable management and use of natural resources
provides for the prevention and control of pollution and environmental degradation. Part
IV, Section 75 focuses on the Protection of hills and landscapes and section 81 provides for the
Powers of inspectors relating to natural resources.
Forestry Act of 1990: Restriction of deforestation activities in National and Local Forests
Lands Act CAP 184 of 1995:
- Land allocation and uses
- Section 9. Prohibition of unauthorized occupation of Land
Land Acquisition Act CAP 189 of 1970, Part IV: Unutilized and Undeveloped Land and
Absentee Owners.

11. Recommendations
• To help develop policies that encourage sustainable land use and
management and assist in the greater use of land resource information
for sustainable agriculture.
• To develop economic instruments for the assessment of land
degradation and encourage the sustainable use of land resources.
• To develop information systems that link environmental monitoring,
accounting, and impact assessment to land degradation.
• Revision of existing Laws and regulations on Land to include clauses
such as strict protection of lands from degradation.
• Continuous and effective land audits

12. Conclusion
People can be a major asset in reversing a trend towards degradation. However, they
need to be healthy and politically and economically motivated to care for the land, as
subsistence agriculture, poverty, and illiteracy can lead important causes of land and
environmental degradation especially in Zambia which has inadequate laws and
policies aimed directly at preventing land degradation.

13. References
• Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). 2008. Demanding Deforestation: What else
can illegal logging and international timber trade policy teach us for effectively
reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation? EIA, London.
• Eswaran, H., R. Lal and P.F. Reich. 2010. Land degradation: an overview. Responses to
Land Degradation. International Conference on Land Degradation and Desertification,
Khon Kaen, Thailand. Oxford Press, New Delhi, India.
• Food and Agriculture Organization of The United Nations (FAO). 2011. State of the
World’s Forests. FAO, Rome, Italy.
• Government of The Republic of Zambia. The Environmental Management Act No. 12,
GRZ 2011.
• Government of The Republic of Zambia (GRZ). Zambia National Action Programme
Combating Desertification and Mitigating Serious Effects of Drought in the Context of
the United Nation Convention in Combating Desertification. Lusaka; GRZ, 2002.
• Pugsley, J. 2013. Impact of Land degradation, desertification and drought on
sustainable development of LLDCs. NK, NYLO.
• Scherr, S.J. and Yadav, S. 1997. Land degradation in developing world: issues and
policy options for 2020. International food policy research institute 2020 brief 44.
• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification In Countries Experiencing Serious
Drought And/or Desertification, Particularly In Africa.

14. Thank you for Listening…