Vulnerabilities

Climatic conditions make the Mediterranean region one of the areas most severely affected by land degradation. 12 of the 27 European Union Member States declared themselves as affected countries under the 1992 United Nation Convention on Combating Desertification (UNCCD): in the Mediterranean: Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain and in central and eastern Europe: Hungary, Latvia, Slovak Republic, Bulgaria and Romania (1).

In addition, other physical factors, such as steep slopes and the frequency of soil types susceptible to degradation, increase the vulnerability. These factors, coupled with changes in land use, the cessation of soil erosion protection measures due to the abandonment of marginal land, and increases in the frequency and extension of forest fires, have had a strong impact on soil vulnerability. Individual storms in the region have been known to remove 100 tonnes of soil from a hectare of land, and frequently remove 20 to 40 tonnes. In the most extreme cases, soil degradation has led to desertification (2). In these sensitive areas, therefore, vulnerabilities are likely to increase due to projected climate change.

In currently affected areas, desertification is likely to become irreversible if the environment becomes drier; the pressure from human activities will increase and the soil will be further degraded (1).

References

The references below are cited in full in a separate map 'References'. Please click here if you are looking for the full references for Bulgaria.

1. EEA, JRC and WHO (2008)
2. EEA (2005), in: EEA, JRC and WHO (2008)