Case Study: Desertification in Botswana

Read the article about Botswana and answer the questions below.

1) What is desertification? Give a general overview (In your own words) of what it is and what are its causes. (4 marks)

Desertification is a type of land degradation where dry land regions become really arid. It loses its bodies of water, vegetation and wildlife. Desertification is caused by a variety of factors like climate change. It can also be caused by human activities such as overgrazing, bio-industrial practices, poor irrigation practices  and deforestation.

2) Describe the PHYSICAL characteristics of Botswana and how these are impacting desertification. Remember that physical is things that would be there whether humans existed or not and include the climate, the flora and fauna, the landscape. (4 marks)

- Climate:
Climate change and the general rise in temperature in Botswana, will raise the evapotranspiration which can lead to soil humidity and an increase in droughts. The deterioration of topsoil in drylands is the effect of temperature variations, rainfall and soil humidity which increases the process of desertification. 

- Flora:

Land degradation due to drought, salinity or over-exploitation has immediate consequences on the capacity of vegetation to maintain or reconstruct itself. This kind of poor vegetation will cause land degradation to occur resulting in a desert like area.

- Fauna:

 Animal species, dependant on vegetation have to migrate to other areas to find sufficient resources or they risk disappearing altogether. The importance of this loss derives from the fact that animal and plant species from dry lands are particularly well adapted to their extreme environment. They act as indicators of the environmental condition of these areas and their disappearance is a sign of significant habitat degradation. 

- Landscape:
Land degradation would occur causing soil to erode or disappear which would increase the process of desertification. This can have a direct impact on the water cycle causing it to be scarce or threatened. Low rainfall causes more and more droughts to occur. 

3) Describe the HUMAN causes of desertification in Botswana. How are humans making it worse? (4 marks)

- Overgrazing where farmers allow livestock to graze to the point where they damage vegetation.

- Deforestation which is the process of removing trees and transforming a forest into cleared land. 

- Destruction of plants in dry region

- Incorrect irrigation in arid regions which causes a build up of a salt in soil

4) Describe some of the problems associated with solving the problem in Botswana, as well as some of the steps that have been taken to protect the environment and people. (4 marks)

Botswana has a large population which may be a problem which is associated with solving the problem in Botswana. The population needs to be managed otherwise the problem will worsen in terms of desertification. By decreasing the population size, there will be a decrease in human activity causing there to be a decrease in drylands so there would be more rainfall. 

Teaching the public environmental awareness and to use supplies efficiently is an important step to overcome desertification in Botswana. 

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