Sites designated by year


GEO-6 Regional Assessment for Asia and the Pacific Number of sites


Sites areas sum (ha)


Figure 2.2.5: Asia and Oceania, trends in Ramsar wetland sites, 1974-2016


500 400 300 200 100 0


Number of sites Source: Ramsar Convention Secretariat 2010 2.2.5 Impacts Impacts on soil quality and productivity


Land resources in the Asia and the Pacific region are significantly impacted by deforestation, overgrazing and conversion of rangelands and forests. Soil pollution, erosion and salinization need urgent attention. Erosion is prevalent in parts of India and in the north of China (FAO 2014). Significant areas in North and Central Asia (211.7 million hectares), South (84.1 million hectares) and Southeast Asia (20 million hectares) are salt-affected, because of the expansion of area under irrigation and the use of brackish water, and 10 million hectares are affected by soil compaction (FAO and ITPS 2015). In India, 11 million hectares are estimated to be affected by wind erosion, 6.98 million hectares by soil acidity and 6.7 million hectares are salt affected (ICAR and NAAS 2010). Nearly 20 million hectares are affected by heavy metal contamination in China alone (FAO and ITPS 2015) and


66


the area of contaminated soil could rise due to increasing economic activity in the region. Heavy use of ammonia- based fertilizers is known to cause soil acidity in Northeast and South Asia (FAO and ITPS 2015). The combined pressures of climate change, land degradation and soil quality changes have mixed impacts on the agricultural suitability of land (Zabel et al. 2014).


Areas in Australia are projected to experience a net decline in agriculturally suitable land, while a few pockets in Southeast Asia will have an increase in agriculturally suitable land. Soil salinization is a major problem in semi-arid and arid zones, as well as in irrigated areas with poor drainage. Salinity costs global agriculture an estimated USD12 billion per year, and this figure is increasing (Pitman and Läuchli 2002). Land degradation has significant impacts on water resources especially in terms of soil water content and groundwater recharge. Forest fires can negatively impact the soil quality (Certini 2005) and given the increase in forest fires due to


Sites designated by year Years


50 40 30 20 10 0


10 000 000 20 000 000 30 000 000 40 000 000 50 000 000


0


Sites areas sum


1974 1975 1976 1977 1980 1981 1982 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014


2015 2016


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