Author Hooke, J., Van Wesemael, B., Torri, D., Castillo, V., Cammeraat, E. & Poesen, J.

Year of publication 2007

Soil erosion and land degradation have negative ‘on-site’ and ‘off-site’ effects: on the fields the topsoil is being removed by water fl owing over the soil surface. These ‘on-site’ processes lead to a decrease in soil quality as most nutrients are present in the topsoil. So erosion leads to impoverishment of the soil, but it also deteriorates the water absorbing properties of the soil, reducing infiltration of water into the soil. Therefore, eroded soils often give higher amounts of runoff than non-degraded soils. The aim of these guidelines is to present novel and effective sustainable measures to: reduce the on-site problems of land degradation in two ways: identification of ‘hotspots’ in the landscape where runoff occurs, increasing soil degradation; application of environmentally sound and effective revegetation strategies on the identified hotspots using suitable plant species. This approach is different from other approaches in that it identifies hotspots and focuses on the application of appropriate vegetation species to these areas, whereas in other approaches measures are applied across the entire landscape.