MADRID, May 24 (NNN-EFE) — A total of 74% of Spanish land are facing desertification, with Catalonia and Andalusia at most risk due to large-scale erosion in the regions, Spanish news agency Efe reported, citing the draft of the National Strategy to Combat Desertification.
The document, drawn up by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, noted that the main cause of desertification is human activity and climate change, which lead to the continuous degradation of semi-arid and arid lands. Another phenomenon, soil salinization, further compounds the problem as about 10% of Spanish land suffer from excess salts.
In recent years, desertification has accelerated globally due to the conversion of agricultural land into artificial surfaces, the expansion of irrigated land and the ongoing growth of intensive livestock farming.
Spokesman for Greenpeace Spain Julio Barea told Efe that the problems of soil deterioration are caused by social and economic factors, but they can be successfully offset by managing the land more efficiently and reducing the amount of agricultural land. — NNN-EFE
