The influence of desertification factors in the Republic of Moldova and the tasks to combat it

Abstract

Environmental protection is a problem of global importance, which must become a national priority, because it directly concerns the living conditions and the health of the population, the achievement of economic interests, as well as the capacities of sustainable development of the society. Desertification is considered one of the main global economic problems, in particular because of the reciprocal link between land degradation and food production. Desertification, land degradation and droughts are a danger to human food security, reducing agricultural production and even destroying homes. According to the evaluation of the United Nations Environment Program due to the desertification process, over 40 million ha were severely affected. Every year over 900 million people are subjected to the negative influence of desertification processes. In the Republic of Moldova, soil degradation and desertification processes are conditioned by both natural conditions and anthropogenic factors. Among the natural conditions are the climatic phenomena (torrential rains, frequent periods of drought and drought, strong winds), the rugged relief, the lithogenesis and the composition of the rocks from the earth's surface. Currently, on the territory of the Republic about 40 % of the agricultural lands have soils eroded of different degree: weakly eroded - 23.2 %, moderately eroded - 11.7 and strongly eroded - 4.9 %. Each year the surface of the eroded land increases by an average of 0.9 %, and the annual losses of fertile soil are estimated at 26 million tons. The balance of humus is profoundly deficient, the reserves of humus decrease annually by about 1 t/ha, the nutrients by 180 - 200 kg/ha. The damage caused to the national economy by the loss of production through soil degradation amounts to about 3.1 billion lei (251 million USD) annually. The degradation of the soil cover and the drying of the climate during the spring-summer period lead to the intensification and extension of the desertification processes of the lands.