Land Degradation and Society

Land Degradation and Society
Title Land Degradation and Society PDF eBook
Author Piers Blaikie
Publisher Routledge
Pages 323
Release 2015-07-30
Genre Science
ISBN 1317411943

Download Land Degradation and Society Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Why does land management so often fail to prevent soil erosion, deforestation, salination and flooding? How serious are these problems, and for whom? This book, first published in 1987, sets out to answer these questions, which are still some of the most crucial issues in development today, using an approach called ‘regional political ecology’. This approach acknowledges that the reason why land management can fail are extremely varied, and must include a thorough understanding of the changing natural resource base itself, the human response to this, and broader changes in society, of which land managers are a part. Land Degradation and Society is essential reading for all students of geography, agriculture, social sciences, development studies and related subjects.

Dirt

Dirt
Title Dirt PDF eBook
Author David R. Montgomery
Publisher Univ of California Press
Pages 299
Release 2007-05-14
Genre Nature
ISBN 0520933168

Download Dirt Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Dirt, soil, call it what you want—it's everywhere we go. It is the root of our existence, supporting our feet, our farms, our cities. This fascinating yet disquieting book finds, however, that we are running out of dirt, and it's no laughing matter. An engaging natural and cultural history of soil that sweeps from ancient civilizations to modern times, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations explores the compelling idea that we are—and have long been—using up Earth's soil. Once bare of protective vegetation and exposed to wind and rain, cultivated soils erode bit by bit, slowly enough to be ignored in a single lifetime but fast enough over centuries to limit the lifespan of civilizations. A rich mix of history, archaeology and geology, Dirt traces the role of soil use and abuse in the history of Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, China, European colonialism, Central America, and the American push westward. We see how soil has shaped us and we have shaped soil—as society after society has risen, prospered, and plowed through a natural endowment of fertile dirt. David R. Montgomery sees in the recent rise of organic and no-till farming the hope for a new agricultural revolution that might help us avoid the fate of previous civilizations.

Land Degradation

Land Degradation
Title Land Degradation PDF eBook
Author A.J. Conacher
Publisher Springer Science & Business Media
Pages 404
Release 2001-02-28
Genre Business & Economics
ISBN 9780792367703

Download Land Degradation Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Papers Selected from Contributions to the Sixth Meeting of the International Geographical Union's Commission on Land Degradation and Desertification, Perth, Western Australia, 20-28 September 1999

The Political Economy of Soil Erosion in Developing Countries

The Political Economy of Soil Erosion in Developing Countries
Title The Political Economy of Soil Erosion in Developing Countries PDF eBook
Author Piers Blaikie
Publisher Routledge
Pages 201
Release 2016-05-20
Genre Business & Economics
ISBN 1317268385

Download The Political Economy of Soil Erosion in Developing Countries Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

First published in 1985. This book examines wide variety of ways in which environmental deterioration, in particular soil erosion, can be viewed and the implicit political judgements that often inform them. Using the context of developing countries, where the effects tend to be more acute due to underdevelopment and climatic factors, this work aims to examine this source of uncertainty and make explicit the underlying assumptions in the debate about soil erosion. It also rejects the notion that soil erosion is a politically neutral issue and argues that conservation requires fundamental social change. This title will be of interest to students of environmental and developmental studies.

Exploring Agrodiversity

Exploring Agrodiversity
Title Exploring Agrodiversity PDF eBook
Author H. C. Brookfield
Publisher Columbia University Press
Pages 371
Release 2001
Genre Nature
ISBN 023110233X

Download Exploring Agrodiversity Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Small farmers are often viewed as engaging in wasteful practices that wreak ecological havoc. Exploring Agrodiversity sets the record straight: Small farmers are in fact ingenious and inventive and engage in a diverse range of land-management strategies, many of them resourcefully geared toward conserving resources, especially soil. Using case studies from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific, this book provides in-depth analysis of agricultural diversity and explores its history.

Marginality

Marginality
Title Marginality PDF eBook
Author Joachim von Braun
Publisher Springer
Pages 388
Release 2013-08-19
Genre Science
ISBN 9400770618

Download Marginality Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

This book takes a new approach on understanding causes of extreme poverty and promising actions to address it. Its focus is on marginality being a root cause of poverty and deprivation. “Marginality” is the position of people on the edge, preventing their access to resources, freedom of choices, and the development of capabilities. The book is research based with original empirical analyses at local, national, and local scales; book contributors are leaders in their fields and have backgrounds in different disciplines. An important message of the book is that economic and ecological approaches and institutional innovations need to be integrated to overcome marginality. The book will be a valuable source for development scholars and students, actors that design public policies, and for social innovators in the private sector and non-governmental organizations.​

Land Degradation

Land Degradation
Title Land Degradation PDF eBook
Author Anthony Chisholm
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Pages 430
Release 1987
Genre Science
ISBN 0521340799

Download Land Degradation Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

This book presents a broad multi-disciplinary perspective on the challenge of problems of degrading land.