7
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) defines land degradation as a process
that leads to a long-term failure to balance the demand for and the supply of ecosystem goods and services. While there are estimates that about 10–20% of global drylands suffer from desertification (Reynolds et al. 2007; D’Odorico et al. 2013), due
to the complexity of the causes of desertification and the impacts of land degradation,
we have little understanding of both local expressions and the global extent of this
problem (Cherlet et al. 2018). What is the origin of desertification? Where does its
legacy originate, in the (false) sense that deserts are the result of deforestation, overgrazing, and excessive burning by indigenous nomadic pastoralist populations (Davis
2016a, b)? How can one explain major investments globally and regionally in strategic projects of “re”forestation and greening that promise to convert deserts into “productive land” (Davis 2016a, b; Stafford Smith 2016; 8000 km of Great Green Wall in
the Sahel https://www.greatgreenwall.org/about-great-green-wall)?
The Earth’s largest drylands are about 65 million years old, but like other biomes
drylands have undergone dramatic changes over time (Goudie 1986). As noted above,
in the drylands the scarcity, variability, and unpredictability of water over space and
time are unique characteristics that have challenged traditional linear approaches to
understanding ecosystem dynamics (Whitfield and Reed 2012). Seminal works by
Westoby et al. (1989), Walker (1993), and Holling (1988) have stated that after a disturbance event, ecosystems return to a stable state of “equilibrium” or “climax,” with
a new “non-equilibrium” paradigm (Westoby et al. 1989). However, in most dryland
SES most likely we will find both equilibrium and non- equilibrium features due to an
extremely high spatiotemporal heterogeneity in structure, function, and overall system resilience (Coppock and Briske personal comment). What is currently labeled
redundant or “noise” may be the source of system stability and resilience in the future
under changing and interacting environmental conditions (Folke et al. 2010).
This concept of “non-equilibrium” is not only reflected in multiple stable biophysical states, but necessarily applies also to alternative socio-economic states
(Reynolds and Stafford Smith 2002; Huber-Sannwald et al. 2012). While innate
natural disturbance regimes have been acknowledged in contributing to the natural
dynamics of SES (Pickett and White 1985), these aspects have not been considered
in environmental policy formulation, concepts of dryland development, and antidesertification policies (Behnke and Mortimore 2016; Davis 2016b) with potentially detrimental implications as they do not foresee the unpredictable non-linear
nature of SES change (Reynolds et al. 2007; von Wehrden et al. 2012).
Desertification was recognized as one of the first major global change problems
(UNCCD 1994; Thomas and Middleton 1992) and since then, it has been on the
global UN agenda (Stafford Smith 2016). In 1977, the first United Nations Conference
on Desertification (UNCOD) was organized. In parallel, in the second half of the
twentieth century global dryland policy was targeted towards dryland restoration to
enhance productivity in ways aligned with capitalist development goals (Davis
2016a). Ironically, however, some of the regions, most severely affected by desertification seem to have been related to those inappropriate policies that arose from
misperceptions on the origin and (falsely promoted lack of) value of drylands and the
supposedly inappropriate traditional uses by local populations (Davis 2016a).
While scholars continue to debate how to best distinguish land degradation from
1 Introduction: International Network for the Sustainability…
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) defines land degradation as a process
that leads to a long-term failure to balance the demand for and the supply of ecosystem goods and services. While there are estimates that about 10–20% of global drylands suffer from desertification (Reynolds et al. 2007; D’Odorico et al. 2013), due
to the complexity of the causes of desertification and the impacts of land degradation,
we have little understanding of both local expressions and the global extent of this
problem (Cherlet et al. 2018). What is the origin of desertification? Where does its
legacy originate, in the (false) sense that deserts are the result of deforestation, overgrazing, and excessive burning by indigenous nomadic pastoralist populations (Davis
2016a, b)? How can one explain major investments globally and regionally in strategic projects of “re”forestation and greening that promise to convert deserts into “productive land” (Davis 2016a, b; Stafford Smith 2016; 8000 km of Great Green Wall in
the Sahel https://www.greatgreenwall.org/about-great-green-wall)?
The Earth’s largest drylands are about 65 million years old, but like other biomes
drylands have undergone dramatic changes over time (Goudie 1986). As noted above,
in the drylands the scarcity, variability, and unpredictability of water over space and
time are unique characteristics that have challenged traditional linear approaches to
understanding ecosystem dynamics (Whitfield and Reed 2012). Seminal works by
Westoby et al. (1989), Walker (1993), and Holling (1988) have stated that after a disturbance event, ecosystems return to a stable state of “equilibrium” or “climax,” with
a new “non-equilibrium” paradigm (Westoby et al. 1989). However, in most dryland
SES most likely we will find both equilibrium and non- equilibrium features due to an
extremely high spatiotemporal heterogeneity in structure, function, and overall system resilience (Coppock and Briske personal comment). What is currently labeled
redundant or “noise” may be the source of system stability and resilience in the future
under changing and interacting environmental conditions (Folke et al. 2010).
This concept of “non-equilibrium” is not only reflected in multiple stable biophysical states, but necessarily applies also to alternative socio-economic states
(Reynolds and Stafford Smith 2002; Huber-Sannwald et al. 2012). While innate
natural disturbance regimes have been acknowledged in contributing to the natural
dynamics of SES (Pickett and White 1985), these aspects have not been considered
in environmental policy formulation, concepts of dryland development, and antidesertification policies (Behnke and Mortimore 2016; Davis 2016b) with potentially detrimental implications as they do not foresee the unpredictable non-linear
nature of SES change (Reynolds et al. 2007; von Wehrden et al. 2012).
Desertification was recognized as one of the first major global change problems
(UNCCD 1994; Thomas and Middleton 1992) and since then, it has been on the
global UN agenda (Stafford Smith 2016). In 1977, the first United Nations Conference
on Desertification (UNCOD) was organized. In parallel, in the second half of the
twentieth century global dryland policy was targeted towards dryland restoration to
enhance productivity in ways aligned with capitalist development goals (Davis
2016a). Ironically, however, some of the regions, most severely affected by desertification seem to have been related to those inappropriate policies that arose from
misperceptions on the origin and (falsely promoted lack of) value of drylands and the
supposedly inappropriate traditional uses by local populations (Davis 2016a).
While scholars continue to debate how to best distinguish land degradation from
1 Introduction: International Network for the Sustainability…