# Presentation: 561837

## THEMATIC SLIDES

**THEMATIC SLIDES**

## CROPLAND

**CROPLAND**

## CROPLAND

**CROPLAND**

-  Almeria, Spain
-  Santa Cruz, Bolivia
-  Novovolyns’k, Ukraine
-  Torreon, Mexico
-  Tensas River Basin, United States
-  Shatt al-Arab, Iraq/Iran
-  Al’ Isawiyah, Saudi Arabia
-  Paektu San, North Korea
-  Toshka Project, Egypt

## CROPLAND

**CROPLAND**

-  Cultivated systems, including croplands, shifting cultivation, confined livestock
- production and freshwater aquaculture cover approximately 24% of total land
- area

-  In the last two decades, the major areas of cropland expansion were located in Southeast Asia, parts of South Asia, the Great Lakes region of eastern Africa, the Amazon Basin, and the U.S. Great Plains

-  The major decreases of cropland occurred in the southeastern United States, eastern China, and parts of Brazil and Argentina

*Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Ecosystems and Human Well-being 2005; UNEP 2005*

-  According to FAO estimates, 1 500 million hectares (3 706 million acres) of the world’s land is currently being used for growing crops

-  Of all human activities, agriculture consumes the greatest amount of water, accounting for 70% of all water withdrawals worldwide

## Greenhouse agriculture in Almeria, Spain

-  1987: The landscape reflects rather typical rural agricultural land use

-  2000: The area has been converted to intensive greenhouse agriculture

-  2004: Greenhouse-dominated land appears as whitish gray patches

- Greenhouse agriculture in Almeria, Spain

**Notes:**
This pair of satellite images shows the impact of massive and rapid agricultural development in Almeria Province along Spain’s southern coast. In the earlier image, the landscape reflects rather typical rural agricultural land use. In the 2000 image, much of the same region—an area covering roughly 20 000 hectares (49 421 acres)—has been converted to intensive greenhouse agriculture for the mass production of market produce. (Greenhouse-dominated land appears as whitish gray patches.) In order to address increasingly complex water needs throughout Spain, the government adopted the Spanish National Hydrological Plan (SNHP) in 2001. Initially, this water redistribution plan involved the construction of 118 dams and 22 water transfer projects that would move water from parts of the country where it was relatively abundant to more arid regions. In 2004, the Spanish government announced it would begin exploring more environmentally friendly water-saving technologies, such as wastewater recycling and  seawater desalinization.

## Converting forests into farms in Santa Cruz, Bolivia

-  1975: Forested landscape

-  2003: Large corporate agricultural fields transform the landscape

**Notes:**
Santa Cruz is situated in Bolivia’s rich, fertile lowlands, a region highly suitable for agriculture. In the 1975 satellite image, the region’s forested landscape appears as a dense, essentially unbroken expanse of deep green that extends to the Rio Grande (Guapay) River. By 1986 (inset image), roads had been built that linked the region to other population centers. As a result, large numbers of people migrated to the area. A large agricultural development effort (the Tierras Baja project) led to widespread deforestation as forests were clear-cut and converted to pastures and cropland. By 2003, almost the entire region had been converted to agricultural lands, including the area east of La Esperanza across the river. In the area north and west of Los Cafes (upper left), notice the grid of squares on the landscape, each with an internal star-shaped pattern. At the center of each square is a small community.

## Novovolynśk: Contrast in land use practices, Ukraine

- Novovolynśk: Contrast in land use practices, Ukraine

- 1988-2000: Apparent change in the approach to land use in Ukraine, following the patterns in Poland

**Notes:**
The unique transformation of the former USSR into today’s modern states has had a profound effect on the lay of the land in Ukraine. These images show a notable difference in the agricultural land use patterns between Poland and Ukraine, probably reflecting different policies and approaches to land use. Of particular interest are the sizes and patterns of the fields in the two countries; while Poland the farms are comparably much smaller, those in Ukraine are larger. Though the town of Novovolyns’k has not changed appreciably in size, an apparent change in the approach to land use in Ukraine has taken place; in the 2000 image, larger fields have been divided, following the pattern in Poland. The satellite images reveal quite vividly the contrast in land-use practices between the individual farms of Poland and Ukraine’s former state farm plan—and how the latter has changed over time.

## Decreasing cropland due to drought in Torreón, Mexico

-  1972: There has been significant decrease in cropland due to drought

-  2000: Cropland around the city is continuously decreasing

**Notes:**
The city of Torreón is located in the State of Coahuila in central Mexico. Founded in 1893, Torreón is a modern industrial city that is home to flour mills, textile plants, iron foundries, a rubber factory, and various other industries. Torreón is also situated in a rich agrarian region noted for its cotton and wheat farms and cattle ranches. Since the 1970s, however, there has been a significant decrease in cropland in the Torreón region due to drought and subsequent extraction of ground water from aquifers. In 1992, the Mexican government passed the Federal Water Law, in which the government sought to shift responsibility for some water management rights issues from federal to local governments, or even individuals. This left farmers in a position to negotiate their own water rights. At the same time, however, prices of water for irrigation were also raised. The amount of land around Torreón on which crops are raised continues to decrease.

## Difference in change pattern across Tensas River Basin, United States

-  1972: Clearing of forest during the 1960s and 1970s increased flooding and erosion

-  2001: Land cover change on the Louisiana side of the image is striking

***2 Oct 1972***

***2 Oct 1972***

**Notes:**
The Tensas River Basin watershed lies in eastern Louisiana and covers 272 000 hectares (672 126 acres) in the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain. Historically, 90 per cent of this land was forested. Roughly 85 per cent of the forests were cleared during the 1960s and 1970s for the planting of soybeans. Clearing of the forest has exacerbated flooding problems and increased erosion. As this pair of images reveals, intensive agricultural development has continued in the Tensas River Basin over time. Croplands appear in shades of tan; forests are green. The only remaining large tracts of hardwood forests in the watershed are in isolated wildlife refuges and management areas. Small forest remnants also occur on some private lands. The contrast between the amount of land cover change that has occurred on opposite sides of the Mississippi River in these images is striking. In the state of Mississippi, the forests remain largely intact, possibly due to the absence of lands suitable for cultivation.

## Destruction of largest date palm forest - Shatt al-Arab, Iran/Iraq

- 1975-2002: Destruction of the largest date palm forest in the world, bordering Iraq and Iran

- By 2002, more than 80% of palms were wiped out due to war, salt and pests

**Notes:**
Lining the 193-km-long (120-mile-long) Shatt al-Arab estuary, formed by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, is the largest date palm forest in the world. Stretching back from the riverbanks towards the desert, date plantations extend for distances varying from a few hundred metres to almost six kilometres (4 miles). In the mid-1970s, the region counted some 17-18 million date palms or a fifth of the world’s 90 million palm trees. By 2002, more than 14 million, or 80 per cent, of the palms were wiped out. Destruction of the palm forest is due to a variety of factors. War has had the most direct impact, but salinisation and pest infestation have also caused long-term damage. The livelihoods of millions of people dependent on dates for food and income are in ruins, including a regional trade with export earnings ranked second only to oil.

## Greening of Al’ Isawiyah desertSaudi Arabia

- Greening of Al’ Isawiyah desertSaudi Arabia

-  1991 – Irrigation in the desert begins

-  2000 –  Irrigation transforms the desert

-  2004 – Irrigation intensity increases

**Notes:**
Rich in oil but lacking abundant water resources, Saudi Arabia has used oil revenues to adopt some of the best technologies available for farming in arid and semi-arid environments. One such technology is the center-pivot irrigation system (CPI). In satellite images, CPI-irrigated fields appear as green dots. These three images, from 1986, 1991, and 2004, reveal the effects of this irrigation strategy in a vast desert region in Saudi Arabia known as Wadi As-Sirhan. This region was once so barren that it could barely support the towns Al’Isawiyah and Tubarjal that can be seen in the upper left of each image. Following the introduction of center pivot irrigation, however, barren desert was gradually transformed into a greener, food-producing landscape. The irrigation system draws water from an ancient aquifer—some of the water it contains may be as much as 20 000 years old. Judicious use of water resources, and climate-appropriate technology, has in this situation helped improve food production without being detrimental to the environment.

## Agricultural expansion around Paektu San, North Korea

- Agricultural expansion around Paektu San, North Korea

- Images show agricultural expansion  around Paektu San

-  1977: Shows result of intensive land development on the North Korean side of the border

-  1999: Shows expanding agricultural activities on and around Paektu San, especially after the construction of the dam

**Notes:**
Situated on the border between China and North Korea, the mountain Paektu San is a symbol of patriotism for the Korean people and an embodiment of their national spirit. The mountain’s rich volcanic soils and its dry, relatively cool climate make it suitable for agriculture. These two satellite images reveal the degree to which agricultural activities have expanded on and around Paektu San, particularly on the North Korean side of the border, where intensive land development has served to both increase food production and underscore North Korea’s territorial claims. In these images, green represents natural vegetation while grayish-brown areas are bare agricultural lands in which crops have not yet emerged from the soil. Areas of deforestation and other types of land clearing appear pink and are dissected by the fine lines of mountain streams. Near the center of the more recent image there is further evidence of land-cover change along the border between the two countries where a dam has been constructed.

## Toshka: Farming the desertEgypt 

- These images show the desert area transformed into vegetable plots

-  1984-87: Image of the area before the desert reclamation project began in mid-1990s

- n

- Toshka: Farming the desertEgypt

-  2000: Four new lakes are visible in this image, the faint blue-green areas around the lakes are newly created agricultural lands

**Notes:**
Egypt’s Toshka Project has transformed part of the country’s scorching hot southern desert into a region dotted by lush, neatly tended vegetable plots that are supplied with water and fertilizer by drip irrigation systems. These images, from 1984 and 2000, document the changes and success Egypt has had in this desert reclamation project, which was begun in the mid-1990s and aimed to double the size of Egypt’s arable land in fifteen years’ time.  The project created four new lakes in the desert by drawing water through a concrete-lined canal from Lake Nasser, which was formed by damming the Nile River at Aswan. The water flows through the canal into the Toshka Depression, where it forms the lakes visible in the 2000 image. The faint blue-green areas visible around some of the lakes are agricultural lands, newly created by irrigation. While providing people with new arable land on which crops can be grown, the Toshka Project’s environmental impacts are still under study.

## Toshka: Farming the DesertEgypt 

- Toshka: Farming the DesertEgypt

- 2005: New fields are clearly visible in the image

## Thank You!

- One Planet Many People: Atlas of Our Changing Environment

**Thank You!**

- Free Downloads:
-  www.na.unep.net
- Purchase:
- www.Earthprint.com

**CROPLAND**