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1. Definition
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Name
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NATURAL VEGETATION
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Brief definition
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Neither urban
nor cultivated nor afforested area.
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Unit of measure
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ha
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Spatial scale
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Watershed scale
or regional scale.
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Temporal scale
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2. Position within the logical framework
DPSIR
3. Target and political pertinence
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Objective
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Description of the state of the
resources and the environment. Identification and
mapping of ESAs. Prioritisation of mitigation actions
to combat desertification.
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Importance with respect to desertification
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Natural vegetation
areas, mainly forest and shrub, have an important
function for soil protection, water regulation and
biodiversity conservation. The restoration and maintenance
of the vegetation cover has a great importance to
mitigate the degenerative processes. This is especially
true for natural vegetation which usually occupies
fragile areas with high slopes.
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International Conventions and agreements
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Secondary objectives of the indicator
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To use the indicator
in a Multicriteria Decision Analysis model to study
the driving forces (including policies) involved in
the processes that lead to desertification and the
efficiency of the responses to combat them.
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4. Methodological description and basic
definitions
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Definitions and basic concepts
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Within the concept
of natural vegetation are included pasture, scrub,
shrub or forest not created nor maintained artificially.
Their protection and control function is greater if
they are climax vegetation.
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Benchmarks Indication of the values/ranges
of value
|
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Methods of measurement
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Using GIS software
or planimetric techniques.
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Limits of the indicator
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Linkages with other indicators
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Vegetation
cover,
Erosion protection
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5. Evaluation of data needs and availability
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Data required to calculate the indicator
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Measure of the
area of natural vegetation using GIS software or planimetric
techniques.
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Data sources
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A land use map,
aerial photography, satellite image, field inventory,
etc. with enough resolution.
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Availability of data from national
and international sources
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Data can be obtained from various
regional, national or international institutions involved
in the collection and elaboration of field or remote
data.
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6. Institutions that have participated
in developing the indicator
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Main institutions responsible
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Universidad
Politécnica de Madrid (Madrid, Spain).
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Other contributing organizations
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Fundación Universidad Empresa de Murcia (Murcia,
Spain).
Dirección
General para la Biodiversidad (Ministerio de Medio
Ambiente Spain).
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7. Additional information
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Bibliography
|
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Other references
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DGCN
(2000): Estrategia Forestal Española”. Dirección
General de Conservación de la Naturaleza, Secretaría
General de Medio Ambiente, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente,
Madrid.
ENNE, G. and ZUCCA, C. (2000): Desertification
Indicators for the European Mediterranean Region”.
ANPA, Rome.
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Contacts Name and address
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Joaquín Solana Gutiérrez
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
jsolana@montes.upm.es
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