Land Degradation

Author: Dr Eureta Rosenberg

What is it?

The experts disagree on how to define land degradation and associated processes such as desertification, but as an issue it is not difficult to understand. Land degradation occurs when the economic and biological productivity of land is lost, primarily through human activities. This can happen, for example, when:

• Fertile soils erode away,
• Indigenous trees are removed,
• Alien plants invade an area,
• Farm land is used for housing,
• Soils become salty through poor irrigation, or
• Soils are degraded by acid pollution and heavy metal contamination.

The loss of productive land obviously affects farming and rural communities. As the land degrades, more fertiliser, machinery and supplementary feeds are needed and the cost of production increases. Small-scale, subsistence farmers are often unable to meet extra costs and even large-scale, commercial farmers can find that farming becomes impossible. As a result, farm workers and others may be forced to move to towns and cities, only to face unemployment and poverty.

Principles of Water Management for People and the Environment

Michael Acreman, Freshwater Management Adviser to the IUCN, Institute of Hydrology, United Kingdom

Water, the Environment, and Population

Water is the lifeblood of our planet. It is fundamental to the biochemistry of all living organisms. The planet's ecosystems are linked and maintained by water, and it drives plant growth, provides a permanent habitat for many species (such as 8,500 species of fish), and is a breeding ground or temporary home for others, including most of the worlds 4,200 species of amphibians and reptiles described so far. Water is also a universal solvent and provides the major pathway for the flow of sediment, nutrients and pollutants. Through erosion, transportation and deposition by rivers, glaciers, and icesheets, water shapes the landscape and through evaporation it drives the energy exchange between land and the atmosphere, thus controlling the Earth's climate.

Apart from a few minor chemical processes, water is neither created nor destroyed, it only moves from place to place and changes in quality. The total amount of water on Earth is 1.4 billion cubic kilometers (km3), but only around 41,000 km3 circulates through the hydrological cycle, the remaining being stored for long periods in the oceans, ice caps and aquifers. Furthermore, the renewal rate provided by rainfall varies around the world. In the Atacama desert in southern Peru it almost never rains, whilst 6,000 millimeters (mm) of rain per year is not uncommon in parts of New Zealand. In any one place rainfall also varies from year to year.

Lou Reed gone

A very sad Sunday this Oct. 27th 2013, our beloved Lou is gone!

R.I.P. Lou Reed, Velvet Underground founder, dead at 71

Lou Reed, the founder of Velvet Underground who later embarked on a successful solo career, has died, according to Rolling Stone. He was 71 years old.

Update: Reed’s physician, Dr. Charles Miller, told The New York Times that he died from liver disease. Reed received a liver transplant in May 2013 and had been receiving treatment up until a few days ago. When doctors told him his condition was no longer treatable, Reed returned home to New York City, where “he died peacefully, with his loved ones around him,” Miller added.

In the days following his surgery, Reed’s wife, Laurie Anderson, revealed the severity of his condition in an interview with The London Times. “It’s as serious as it gets. He was dying. You don’t get it for fun,” Anderson explained. “I don’t think he’ll ever totally recover from this, but he’ll certainly be back to doing [things] in a few months. He’s already working and doing t’ai chi. I’m very happy. It’s a new life for him.”

Land capacity and Oil yields

In a previous article on how much land is needed to grow so much food a list of oils was included but olive oil was not on the list.  So we inquired on similar information and found this other article of useful information but the units are not similar.  As we have some knowledge of physics this is not a problem.  A Kg is equal to 1000g and a hectare is 10000sq.m. so you can divide by 100 to get your figure in Kg.100sq.m of the previous article.

We thank the editor of journeytoforever.com but as we do not believe in ownership but in sharing we will not bother with copyrights or do we consider reproduction of good information as theft, except if it was used for profit from it.  This is definitely nowhere close to any of our intents or goals, quite the opposite, to help create a world as far away as possible from profit, ownership, theft, social control, and exploitation.

Enjoy the information while it lasts free and accessible.  Create hardcopies and manuals of what you believe may be of use for you and your community, use responsibly.  This is our tool to autonomy and freedom. 

What is Communalism?

The Democratic Dimension of Anarchism

by Murray Bookchin  -- September 18, 1994

Seldom have socially important words become more confused and divested of their historic meaning than they are at present. Two centuries ago, it is often forgotten, "democracy" was deprecated by monarchists and republicans alike as "mob rule." Today, democracy is hailed as "representative democracy," an oxymoron that refers to little more than a republican oligarchy of the chosen few who ostensibly speak for the powerless many.

"Communism," for its part, once referred to a cooperative society that would be based morally on mutual respect and on an economy in which each contributed to the social labor fund according to his or her ability and received the means of life according to his or her needs. Today, "communism" is associated with the Stalinist gulag and wholly rejected as totalitarian. Its cousin, "socialism" -- which once denoted a politically free society based on various forms of collectivism and equitable material returns for labor -- is currently interchangeable with a somewhat humanistic bourgeois liberalism.

During the 1980s and 1990s, as the entire social and political spectrum has shifted ideologically to the right, "anarchism" itself has not been immune to redefinition. In the Anglo-American sphere, anarchism is being divested of its social ideal by an emphasis on personal autonomy, an emphasis that is draining it of its historic vitality. A Stirnerite individualism -- marked by an advocacy of lifestyle changes, the cultivation of behavioral idiosyncrasies and even an embrace of outright mysticism -- has become increasingly prominent. This personalistic "lifestyle anarchism" is steadily eroding the socialistic core of anarchist concepts of freedom.

Incredible Edibles! – Great “Grains”

Republished from http://blogs.extension.org/mastergardener/2013/02/25/incredible-edibles-great-grains/

Incredible Edibles! – Great “Grains” 

Looking for something interesting and tasty to try in the vegetable garden or landscape this year?  Are you looking to add delicious fresh ingredients to your meals?  It’s time to take a look at some uncommon plants that can have a big impact in the garden and on your dinner plate.  There’s a whole world of fantastic fruits, glorious grains, verdant vegetables, and more that can bring excitement to the garden.

Think about experimenting this year and grow something new and unexpected.  This week, we’ll be taking a look at specialty “grains” that can find themselves a home right in your own home flower or vegetable garden.  These plants are used much like our cereal grains (corn, rice, oats, wheat, etc.), but are, in fact, broad leaved plants.

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) and Amaranth (Amaranthus sp.)

We’ll talk about the first two together since they are closely related and have similar care characteristics.  Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wah) has been consumed as a staple in parts of South America for nearly 5,000 years and is just now becoming popular in the US.  Some reports indicate that the growing demand in developed countries is increasing the price of the staple in its native regions.

The seeds, when cooked, have a creamy consistency and nutty flavor and are often used in salads or cooked pasta/rice dishes.  It is also ground into a gluten-free flour.   It is popular because its tasty flavor pairs with its impressively high protein content.  It is a wonderful addition to the garden because the seeds come from impressively showy flower heads that make a striking addition to the flower garden.