Land use type
Climate
Annual cropping: land under temporary/ annual crops
Arid: length of growing period LGP 0 – 74 days
usually harvested within one, maximally two years (eg
maize, rice, wheat, vegetables)
Perennial (non-woody) cropping: land under permanent
Semi-arid: LGP 75 – 179 days
(not woody) crops that may be harvested after 2 or more
years, or only part of the plants are harvested (eg sugar
cane, banana, sisal, pineapple)
Tree/ shrub cropping: permanent woody plants with crops
Subhumid: LGP 180 – 269 days
harvested more than once after planting and usually lasting
for more than 5 years (eg coffee, tea, grapevines, oil palm,
cacao, coconut, fodder trees, fruit trees (apples, cherries,
etc.)
Extensive grazing land: grazing on natural or semi-natural
Humid: (LGP) > 270 days
grasslands, grasslands with trees / shrubs (savannah
vegetation) or open woodlands for livestock and wildlife
Intensive grazing land: grass production on improved or
planted pastures, including cutting for fodder materials
(for livestock production)
Degradation
Natural forests: forests composed of indigenous trees, not
Erosion by water: loss of topsoil by water; gully erosion; mass movements; riverbank erosion /
planted by man
coastal erosion; offsite effects: deposition of sediments, downstream flooding, siltation of
reservoirs and waterways, etc
Plantations, afforestations: forest stands established by
Erosion by wind: loss of topsoil by wind; deflation and deposition; offsite effects of wind erosion:
planting or/and seeding in the process of afforestation or
Covering of the terrain with windborne sand particles from distant sources ("overblowing")
reforestation
Agroforestry: crops and trees (mixed)
Physical degradation: soil compaction; sealing and crusting; waterlogging; subsidence of organic
soils; loss of bio-productive function due to other activities (eg construction, mining)
Agropastoralism: cropland and grazing land (mixed)
Chemical degradation: fertility decline and reduced organic matter content; acidification; lowering
of the soil pH; soil pollution; salinisation/alkalinisation
Agrosilvopastoralism: cropland, grazing land and forest
Biological degradation: reduction of vegetation cover; quality and species composition decline;
(mixed)
quantity decline (loss of vegetative production)
Silvopastoralism: forest and grazing land (mixed)
Water degradation: aridification / soil moisture problem; water quality decline (pollution of water
bodies by chemicals and eroded sediments); water quantity decline (groundwater, surface water)
Mines and extractive industries
Settlements, infrastructure networks: roads, railways, pipe
lines, power lines
Wastelands, deserts, glaciers, swamps, etc
.
SLM measures
Agronomic measures: measures that improve soil cover
Stakeholders / target groups
Land users, individual
(eg green cover, mulch); measures that enhance organic
matter / soil fertility (eg manuring); soil surface
treatment (eg conservation tillage); subsurface treatment
(eg deep ripping)
Vegetative measures: plantation / reseeding of tree and
Land users, group
shrub species (eg live fences; tree rows), grasses and
perennial herbaceous plants (eg grass strips)
Structural measures: terraces (bench, forward /
SLM specialists, agricultural advisor
backward sloping); bunds, banks (level, graded); dams,
pans; ditches (level, graded); walls, barriers, palisades
Management measures: change of land use type (eg area
Teachers / students / school children
enclosure); change of management / intensity level: (eg
from grazing to cut-and-carry); major change in timing
of activities; control / change of species composition
Planners
Politicians, decision makers