Erosion and Land Degradation in theMediterranean : The impacts of Agriculture, Forestry and Tourism.

Aveiro (Portugal) - 14-18 june 1995

Throughout the Mediterranean regions, natural landscapes suffer an intense human impact since historical times. Nowadays new threats from agriculture, forestry and tourism impinge accelerated erosion and land degradation processes. Superimposed upon this are the threat of growing desertification, particularly in the face of climate change and population growth.

The Conference was organised by the Department of Environment and Planning, University of Aveiro, for the International Geographical Union Study Group on Erosion and Desertification in Regions of Mediterranean Climate (MED), in order to review the latest developments.

Reflecting the diversity of approaches and opinion, the topics covered included: methodological approaches to the study of soil erosion and degradation ; soil erosion and degradation in agriculture areas, in forest areas ; land use changes ; socio-economic and political factors in soil erosion and land degradation.

Some 70 articles and posters were presented, mainly by European and north Africa participants but included others from Israel, Malaysia, Mongolia and USA. A selection of papers will be published in a forthcoming issue of GEOÖKO plus.

Field trips were organised. The Baixo Vouga Lagunar excursion provided a general overview of flooding, salinisation and land reclamation projects in the Ria de Aveiro wetlands. Soil erosion and land management practices after forest fires were examined in the Agueda basin, with stops at research sites operated by the Department of Environment and Planning of the Aveiro University. Afforestation projects with Eucalyptus globulus were visited and environment and socio-economic impacts of CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) policies were discussed. Tourist resorts along the coast were visited with active coastal erosion and land degradation.