Page 114 - Çevre Şehir ve İklim Dergisi İngilizce - Özel Sayı

Development of Desertification Maps and Vulnerability Model, Türkiye

Desertification has become more important as a consequence of the rapid
increase in climate change caused by the present conditions in recent years and
the impacts of people who are consumers in this direction. This article aims to
examine the concept of desertification and the studies conducted on this subject.
An effective combat against desertification relies on a good understanding
of the concept and the identification of easy-to-monitor criteria and indicators
that lead to land degradation. In this study, the studies on desertification will
be examined and the definitions of desertification will be given in detail.
Moreover, the studies on desertification in the world will be reviewed and
it will be briefly mentioned how monitoring and analysis on desertification
are carried out, especially in the current conditions. Finally, the Desertification
Model and Vulnerability Map of Türkiye will be analysed in a detailed way.
There has not been a detailed analysis of the new studies on desertification
introduced by the technological developments.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Definition of Desertification

The prolonged drought in West Africa in the 1970s negatively affected
human and animal life and caused losses. Also, serious environmental
degradation occurred and as a result, the United Nations Conference on
Desertification (UNCD) was convened in 1977 (Glantz, 1977; UN Secretariat,
1977; Quintanilla, 1981; Zonn, 1981; Glantz et al., 1983). Although that
drought in West Africa seems to be the beginning of the phenomenon of
desertification, before that, in 1949, a French scientist mentioned the term
desertification in his report (Aubreville, 1949). In this context, at the Nairobi
Conference in 1977, desertification was briefly defined as the diminution or
destruction of the biological potential of the Iand, leading uItimateIy to desert-
Iike conditions. The factors such as technological advances, rapid population
growth, increasing food production and development efforts are intertwined
with each other. For this reason, these processes need to be planned and
integrated with each other for achieving improvements. The degradation or
decline in the productivity of natural resources is a significant threat to societies.
The human demand for higher yields results in more damage to land that is
already fragile and less productive. The never-ending over-consumption of
nature by human societies leads to degradation of vegetation, water and soil.
Particularly in already highly-vulnerable environments (such as near-deserts),
environmental losses resulting from the degradation of natural resources may
become permanent and, concordantly, the life quality of communities may
be reduced and perhaps irreversible. Although desertification may seem like

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Special Issue / 2024