GEO-6 Regional Asssement for West Asia


Arable land


Arable land per person in West Asia countries varies significantly from less than 0.1 hectares in most Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, where the percentage of agricultural land is only 2.2 per cent of total land area; to less than 0.3 hectares per person in Syria (FAO 2014). Agricultural production that is dependent on irrigated and rain-fed cultivation faces competition for water resources from other sectors (FAO 2014).


All countries of the region depend on imports to sustain their supply of food and forage, but to very different extents, with the percentage of food inadequacy ranging from 5 to 100 per cent. Continuous shrinkage of agricultural lands due to population growth, urbanisation, land degradation and desertification will jeopardize food security in the region, especially in the Mashriq countries and Yemen where people depend mainly on local products (FAO 2014).


Deserts and dryland


About 40 per cent of West Asia’s land area is subject to desertification. The region is affected by severe to very severe vegetation degradation: 6 per cent of the region’s land area is slightly desertified, 21 per cent is moderately desertified, 31 per cent is severely desertified, and 11 per cent is very severely desertified. It is reported that 83 per cent of the marginal lands of West Asia are considered to be in danger of desertification. In the Arabian Peninsula, 89.6 per cent of the land is degraded (AOAD 2014; Abahussain et al. 2002).


Desertification in the arid and semi-arid drylands of West Asia can be traced back through several decades (AOAD 2014; Abahussain et al. 2002). The underlying causes of desertification include low and variable amounts of precipitation, increases in temperature and evapotranspiration rates, changes in land-use patterns and practices, and recent trends in climate change (AOAD 2014; Abahussain et al. 2002). Wind erosion accounts for 27 per cent of land degradation (ACSAD/CAMRE/UNEP 2004). Soil


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erosion, salinisation of agricultural land, dust storms and active sand dunes have significantly increased in the region, in turn giving rise to increased desertification (Al-Saady et al. 2013). Box 2.2.1 provides an overview of land degradation and desertification in Iraq.


Rangeland


Rangeland constitutes two thirds of the total area of the region, consisting of arid to semi-arid territories (AOAD 2014). Rangeland is partially covered with grass and shrubs, while experiencing low rainfall (less than 200 millimetres annually), and is a source of forage for livestock and of cultural and social value for the people. Box 2.2.2 provides an overview of rangeland in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Syria.


Forest and woodland resources


West Asia’s forests are principally concentrated in mountainous areas of the Mashriq countries and in the western mountains of Saudi Arabia, with little occurrence of natural forests and woodlands in other countries. The total forest area is about 6 million hectares, and ranges from 0.6 per cent of total land area in the GCC countries to 13.4 per cent in Lebanon (Abahussain et al. 2002; AOAD 2014).


Major obstacles to assessing forest cover in the region include information gaps and low reliability of existing information, ineffective policy and legislative frameworks and weak institutional capacity. Nevertheless, these ecosystems are experiencing heavy wood-cutting rates and forest fires, especially in war-torn countries (FAO 2008, 2011).


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