Soil Erosion

FISH BEING AFFECTED BY SHORELINE EROSION Erosion is the process that moves soil from one location to another by wind, water or other natural action. A natural process, or is it always? Unfortunately, shoreline erosion is too often accelerated by human action. In my original FWA outline I determined to focus on how agriculture contributed to this erosion process. My original statement was “Cattle need to be restricted from the banks of water. Cattle cause …

…hold the soil in position and prevent it from being washed away; * plants break the impact of a raindrop before it hits the soil, thus reducing its ability to erode; . Causes of soil degradation (% of degrading land)Area Deforestation fuel wood Overgrazing Agriculture Industrialisation Europe Africa North America Central America South America Asia Oceania World 38 14 4 22 41 40 12 30 - 13 - 18 5 6 - 7 23 49 30 15 28 26 80 35 29 24 66 45 26 27 8 28 9 - - - - - - 1 Source: World Resources Institute, 1990. & L R Oldeman et al, Wageningen, Holland, 1990.