The identification,analysis,and assessment of desertification due to environmental resource degradation in Anantapur

Abstract

Desertification of susceptible dry lands due to environmental resource degradation is a global phenomenon, which assumes a greater importance even in the Indian context. Anantapur district, located in the Rayalseema region of the south-central part of peninsular India, is one such dry area experiencing desertification condition due to environmental resource degradation that is conditioned by natural factors and exacerbated by anthropogenic factors. The current paper attempts to depict the degradation status while examining all major resource parameters covering both natural and anthropogenic causes of desertification. Environmental indicators are used to identify the phenomenon and secondary data is used to structure the various arguments implying desertification in the study area already taking place due to natural vulnerability, which is exacerbated by human pressures leading to environmental resource degradation. An assessment of desertification is made using the Leopold matrix; however, given the complexity of interactions present in the matrix, an index reflecting the level of desertification was structured so as to act as an aggregate of the interactions between activities and parameters. The article, however, does not venture into establishing direct cause–effect relationships, as these interactions are quite complex and intertwined to model in the framework adopted