Soil destruction in Bosnia-Herzegovina comes from war. Aggression has caused an immense wave of migration. The new settlements are built on prime agricultural land. Nerina Zagora, Bosnia Extreme land degradation results in desertification - when land becomes desert and is unable to support any vegetation.
Desertification affects over a billion people.
It is particularly bad in the savannas of Africa, the Great Plains and pampas of the Americas and in the steppes of south-east Europe and Asia, the outback of Australia and parts of the Mediterranean region. Towns and cities are often developed on former farmland and forests. As urban areas grow, land that once grew food disappears under concrete. This means the remaining land has to produce more food to support even more people. Available land per capita is already very low in Asia with 182 people per km 2 compared to the world average of 44 per km 2 .