THEMATIC SLIDES
CROPLAND
CROPLAND
• Almeria, Spain
• Santa Cruz, Bolivia
• Novovolyns’k, Ukraine
• Torreon, Mexico
• Tensas River Basin, United States
• Shatt al-Arab, Iraq/Iran
• Al’ Isawiyah, Saudi Arabia
• Paektu San, North Korea
• Toshka Project, Egypt
CROPLAND
• Cultivated systems, including croplands, shifting cultivation, confined livestock
production and freshwater aquaculture cover approximately 24% of total land
area
• In the last two decades, the major areas of cropland expansion were located
in Southeast Asia, parts of South Asia, the Great Lakes region of eastern Africa,
the Amazon Basin, and the U.S. Great Plains
• The major decreases of cropland occurred in the southeastern United States,
eastern China, and parts of Brazil and Argentina
• According to FAO estimates, 1 500 million hectares (3 706 million acres) of the
world’s land is currently being used for growing crops
• Of all human activities, agriculture consumes the greatest amount of water,
accounting for 70% of all water withdrawals worldwide
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Ecosystems and Human Well-being 2005; UNEP 2005
Greenhouse agriculture in
Almeria, Spain
• 1987: The landscape
reflects rather typical rural
agricultural land use
• 2000: The area has been
converted to intensive
greenhouse agriculture
• 2004: Greenhousedominated land appears as
whitish gray patches
Converting forests into farms in
Santa Cruz, Bolivia
• 1975: Forested
landscape
• 2003: Large
corporate agricultural
fields transform the
landscape
Novovolynśk: Contrast in
land use practices, Ukraine
1988-2000: Apparent
change in the
approach to land use
in Ukraine, following
the patterns in Poland
Decreasing cropland due to
drought in Torreón, Mexico
• 1972: There has
been significant
decrease in
cropland due to
drought
• 2000: Cropland
around the city is
continuously
decreasing
Difference in change pattern across
Tensas River Basin, United States
• 1972: Clearing of
forest during the 1960s
and 1970s increased
flooding and erosion
• 2001: Land cover
change on the
Louisiana side of the
image is striking
2 Oct 1972
2 Oct 1972
Destruction of largest date palm
forest - Shatt al-Arab, Iran/Iraq
1975-2002:
Destruction of the
largest date palm
forest in the world,
bordering Iraq and
Iran
By 2002, more than
80% of palms were
wiped out due to
war, salt and pests
Greening of Al’ Isawiyah desert
Saudi Arabia
• 1991 – Irrigation in
the desert begins
• 2000 – Irrigation
transforms the desert
• 2004 – Irrigation
intensity increases
Agricultural expansion around
Paektu San, North Korea
Images show agricultural
expansion around
Paektu San
• 1977: Shows result of
intensive land development
on the North Korean side
of the border
• 1999: Shows expanding
agricultural activities on
and around Paektu San,
especially after the
construction of the dam
Toshka: Farming the desert
Egypt
These images show
the desert area
transformed into
vegetable plots
n
• 1984-87: Image of the
area before the desert
reclamation project
began in mid-1990s
• 2000: Four new lakes are
visible in this image, the
faint blue-green areas
around the lakes are newly
created agricultural lands
Toshka: Farming the Desert
Egypt
2005:
New fields
are clearly
visible in
the image
CROPLAND
One Planet Many People:
Atlas of Our Changing Environment
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