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Human Pressure on Desert Environments

            There are threats that are posed by population growth, mineral exploitation, farming and tourism. There are positive outcomes of this human activity sometimes also.
             Population growth is increasing in our deserts by over 1.6 per annum. This puts pressure on the area for food, water and soil fertility. The water table is lowered, dams silt up and soils become exhausted. Sahel areas are more recently Tunisia and Spain suffers from this. Desertification is already happening in the Sahel. TIt receives 200-600mm of rain per year but rainfall can vary massively from year to year. Desertification is an issue In the Sahel which has resulted in human activity such as deforestation, agriculture and as a result of both acts, climate change. Forests have been cleared in the Sahel to create more space for agriculture as 82% of the energy in the Sahel comes from wood. The demand for fuel wood has left to people switching from agriculture to wood collection to earn a living. Wood for use in Zinder is now collected up to 200km away from the town. .
             Between 1968 and 1998, the population of the Sahel has increased from 224 million to 628 million; therefore the demand for food has increased. But, areas of good agricultural land have reduced as it is used for tourism. There is pressure on the remaining agricultural land leading to over cultivation and over gazing. Areas used for agriculture have increased from 8 million hectares in 1960 to 16 million hectares in 2000. Restriction of nomadic farmers has forced them to stay in one area leading to over gazing. Political instability and war has led to migration of people to refugee camps which again puts pressure on food and environment. In 1998 and 1999, 30,000 people migrated to Sudan to escape the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The desertification on the Sahel will most likely get worse as the agriculture and deforestation has resulted in a decrease in rainfall from 49% to 29% which led to a five year drought in 1969.


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