Land Degradation, Causes, Implications and Sustainable Management in Arid and Semi Arid Regions: A Case Study of Egypt

This review focuses on the main causes, effects and governmental management practices of soils in Egypt subjected to degradation threats. Land degradation became a global concern threatening food security and the ecosystem since it has a significant impact on the environment and agriculture. The major causes of degradation are alteration in climatic conditions, overgrazing, salinization, deforestation, depletion of soil organic matter content, desertification, waterlogging, inappropriate agronomic practices and erosion. It is paramount to reduce these causative factors in order to adequately manage the situation. We can manage and improve the well-being of our soils in Egypt through afforestation, managing vegetation cover, soil reclamation, optimizing agricultural practices (e.g. tillage, irrigation and fertilization), avoidance of crop residues removal and application of organic matter to the farmland. Additionally, organic farming can be a substitute in keeping our land safe from degradation. The effects of these factors may lead to loss of ecosystem, biodiversity and agricultural yield/output. The technology of GIS and remote sensing is now widely applied in the studies of land degradation due to its timeliness, coverage and efficiency. This is because of the outstanding features of GIS and remote sensing, which include: field wide view, inexpensive, instantaneous data capturing, and sporadic imagery.