On the occasion of International Day for Biological Diversity, lets hear from you, Campaign was organized and participant was requested to send some ideas regarding the Possible solution for some major threats causing the loss in the Biodiversity, so  one of my participant Asmita Dhakal  is Sharing very insightful solution on Land Degradation and Desertification, Lets hear from her

Solutions on Land Degradation and Desertification

1)     Afforestation: The plantation is the most effective and efficient way to conserve land resources. Especially, soil erosion-prone areas should be planted with trees bearing a high root-shoot ratio and high soil binding capacity.

2)     Improving agricultural practices: Different agricultural practices help in reducing land degradation such as:

a.     Strip/Contour farming practices to reduce topsoil erosion.

b.     Intercropping and Crop rotation to help boost soil fertility.

c.      Conservation tillage practices to reduce erosion and improve soil health.

d.     Mulching to conserve soil moisture content.

e.     Ridge and furrow formation to lessen runoff.

f.       Emphasizing organic fertilizers such as animal manures and compost

3)     Protecting vegetative cover: Controlling overgrazing and overexploitation protects the vegetative cover, which helps to conserve the soil against water and wind erosion.

4)     Control on mining and quarrying activities: Effective management of mining wastes should be done.

5)     Proper discharge and disposal of effluents: Wastes must be disposed of only to the landfill sites. Open burning and open dumping of wastes should be strictly restricted.

6)     Land reclamation: It is the process of improving land to make it more suitable for intensive use. Excavation, Dredging, Soil vapor extraction are some of the techniques for land reclamation.

7)     Preventing soil salinization by:

a.     Switching to salt-tolerant crops.

b.     Enhancing drip irrigation (dripping water onto the soil at a very low rate).

c.      Growing deep-rooted plants that maximize water extraction.

8)     Management of urban sprawl by controlling the urban growth. Urban planning strategy should be built up.

9)     Decontamination of polluted soil: Biological treatment of the land can be done by different methods to decontaminate soil.

a.     Bioremediation: use of micro-organisms to detoxify pollutants

b.     Phytoremediation: use of plants to remove pollutants

c.      Bioventing and Biosparging: addition of oxygen to stimulate aerobic degradation