28
Introduction
International figures and literature on drylands converge on the fact that this
diverse biome complex covers approximately 40% of the world’s land area, and
supports two billion people, 90% of whom live in developing countries (UNCCD
2017; Cherlet et al. 2018). Though drylands are mostly prevalent in Africa and
Asia, Latin America dryland ecosystems also play an important role in providing
essential elements for livelihood development; however, maintaining land quality
is currently the single biggest challenge for long-term provision of dryland systems’ goods and services for human well-being both in rural and urban dryland
environments. Over the past three decades, urbanization in drylands has been
increasing at a similar rate as in other ecoregions of the world; it is predicted that
by 2025, 58% of the world population will be living in urbanized drylands (Balk
2008). Of the globally 1692 large cities, 35% (586) are situated in drylands
(Cherlet et al. 2018).
As previously mentioned in this book, increasing land degradation in drylands
poses one of the greatest challenges for land owners, producers, land managers,
land use planers, and policy makers, as land quality is at the interface of ecosystem
functioning and human security including access to clean water, air, food, energy as
the basic elements for livelihood development (UNCCD 2017). Hence, land degradation may present serious threats and risks to communities and ecosystems.
Unsustainable practices of land and water use, together with climate change
impacts and climate variability, shape the long-term legacy of continuing drylands
degradation potentially triggering socio-ecological collapse expressed as a desertification process (UNCCD 1994). This is mostly accompanied by great damages to
the main regional biogeochemical cycles, altering biological diversity and productivity as well as curbing the ability of ecosystems to produce natural goods and
provide livelihoods to rural and urban communities.
Climate change is an amplifier of such dramatic changes and it is directly
affecting crop yields and agricultural systems among others. According to IPCC
(2015) estimates for the region, this is likely to worsen in the next three decades.
It is likely that climate change will affect grassland productivity by reducing it
between 50 and 80% in semi-arid and arid regions (IPCC 2015); climate scenarios forecast that high levels of desertification and soil salinization, and
increasing water stress, will occur in many parts of Latin America. Due to these
likely changes, increasing food prices together with rapidly increasing production and transportation costs will have direct impacts on highly vulnerable populations, especially those who are exposed to extreme weather events, such as
mega-droughts or short-term floodings. Therefore, as drylands ecosystems are
highly diverse and provide all categories of ecosystem services, which benefit
local communities, they require increasingly adaptive management approaches
to deal with unpredictable system change. Besides they must be integrated in the
larger biophysical, socioeconomic, and institutional contexts considering multifunctional landscapes, resilient local socio-ecological systems, land tenure, and
S. Lucatello and E. Huber-Sannwald
Introduction
International figures and literature on drylands converge on the fact that this
diverse biome complex covers approximately 40% of the world’s land area, and
supports two billion people, 90% of whom live in developing countries (UNCCD
2017; Cherlet et al. 2018). Though drylands are mostly prevalent in Africa and
Asia, Latin America dryland ecosystems also play an important role in providing
essential elements for livelihood development; however, maintaining land quality
is currently the single biggest challenge for long-term provision of dryland systems’ goods and services for human well-being both in rural and urban dryland
environments. Over the past three decades, urbanization in drylands has been
increasing at a similar rate as in other ecoregions of the world; it is predicted that
by 2025, 58% of the world population will be living in urbanized drylands (Balk
2008). Of the globally 1692 large cities, 35% (586) are situated in drylands
(Cherlet et al. 2018).
As previously mentioned in this book, increasing land degradation in drylands
poses one of the greatest challenges for land owners, producers, land managers,
land use planers, and policy makers, as land quality is at the interface of ecosystem
functioning and human security including access to clean water, air, food, energy as
the basic elements for livelihood development (UNCCD 2017). Hence, land degradation may present serious threats and risks to communities and ecosystems.
Unsustainable practices of land and water use, together with climate change
impacts and climate variability, shape the long-term legacy of continuing drylands
degradation potentially triggering socio-ecological collapse expressed as a desertification process (UNCCD 1994). This is mostly accompanied by great damages to
the main regional biogeochemical cycles, altering biological diversity and productivity as well as curbing the ability of ecosystems to produce natural goods and
provide livelihoods to rural and urban communities.
Climate change is an amplifier of such dramatic changes and it is directly
affecting crop yields and agricultural systems among others. According to IPCC
(2015) estimates for the region, this is likely to worsen in the next three decades.
It is likely that climate change will affect grassland productivity by reducing it
between 50 and 80% in semi-arid and arid regions (IPCC 2015); climate scenarios forecast that high levels of desertification and soil salinization, and
increasing water stress, will occur in many parts of Latin America. Due to these
likely changes, increasing food prices together with rapidly increasing production and transportation costs will have direct impacts on highly vulnerable populations, especially those who are exposed to extreme weather events, such as
mega-droughts or short-term floodings. Therefore, as drylands ecosystems are
highly diverse and provide all categories of ecosystem services, which benefit
local communities, they require increasingly adaptive management approaches
to deal with unpredictable system change. Besides they must be integrated in the
larger biophysical, socioeconomic, and institutional contexts considering multifunctional landscapes, resilient local socio-ecological systems, land tenure, and
S. Lucatello and E. Huber-Sannwald