ee.4.1 Desertification
Content
- Geographic inquiry and concept(s)
- Future possibilities for managing extreme environments and their communities
- Geographic knowledge and understanding
- The causes, acceleration, consequences and management of desertification, including land use, conflict and climate change
- Case study or detailed examples
- One case study illustrating the human and physical dimensions of desertification
- Aims of this lesson
- To be able to use Senegal and the Great Green Wall Initiative to explain the causes, acceleration, consequences and management of desertification.
- To be able to evaluate the Great Green Wall Initiative as a management strategy.
Base knowledge and understanding
News article
How rolling sand dunes are creeping up on last remaining oases on edge of Sahara
In western Chad, villagers are desperately trying to hold back the sand as the climate crisis wreaks havoc on one of the hottest countries in the world
The Guardian · 24 November 2025
Key terms
- Desertification
- Land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities. This degradation includes the temporary or permanent decline in the quality of soil, vegetation, water resources or wildlife, for example. It also includes the deterioration of the economic productivity of the land – such as the ability to farm the land for commercial or subsistence purposes.
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Review
- Explain how inappropriate land use can accelerate desertification. [3]
- Explain how conflict can accelerate desertification. [3]
- Suggest two strategies that can be used to manage desertification. [4]
- Examine the human and physical causes of desertification and the effectiveness of strategies used to manage it. [10]
- Evaluate the effectiveness of strategies used to manage the acceleration of desertification in one or more named areas. [10]