Definitions
Land degradation has been an elusive term in geographical literature and environmental studies because of its association with similar natural occurrences, such as deforestation, desertification, and soil erosion. In an understandable sentence, land degradation is perceived as the impairment of the quality of the land and its surrounding associate elements because of natural or human-made causes. This is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected, and the changes or disturbances to the land and its related components have been identified as deleterious or undesirable for the whole environment and its inhabitants.
Land degradation affects people and ecosystems across the planet. The term can also be referred to as soil degradation, but there are some basic differences between the concepts of land and soil. The land comprises soil and also consists of...
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Kaiser, M.S. (2021). Land Degradation: Causes, Impacts, and Interlinks with the Sustainable Development Goals. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A.M., Brandli, L., Özuyar, P.G., Wall, T. (eds) Responsible Consumption and Production. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71062-4_48-1
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