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Desertification Indicator System for Mediterranean Europe

 

The main issues associated with Mediterranean desertification

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Table of indicators relating to economic activity
Authors: Giovanni Quaranta, Rosanna Salvia, Monica Caggiano <quaranta@unibas.it>


Based on the discussion of the issue of changes in economic activity and on a workshop session carried out by members of the DESERTLINKS project, we have attempted to structure the relationship of the indicators to the issue.

The changes in economic activity issue is divided into three themes:

  • what can be observed (or process or state dynamics);
  • reasons for what is observed (or factors influencing the issue or driving forces and pressures);
  • consequences of what is observed (or impacts and responses).

The different facets of each theme are given in sub-themes and indicators of direct relevance to measuring or monitoring are suggested. Some are also suggested as headline indicators which, if considered as a group, form a sub-set of indicators encapsulating the major processes in changes in economic activity (see also Combining and using indicators: Headline indicators).

Please note that the structure presented in the table below is open to discussion. It may not be comprehensive because it is restricted to the indicators currently in the DIS4ME database. Some indicators appear more than once because they relate to more than one theme. This structure is something we would like to develop further in the future.



Theme Sub-theme Indicators
What can be observed (process or state dynamics)

 

 

Changes in the economic activities in desertification affected areas Land use evolution (Headline)
Population density (Headline)
Employment index (Headline)
Unemployment rate (Headline)
GDP per capita (Headline)
Land use intensity (Headline)
Reasons for what is observed (influencing factors or driving forces and pressures) Climatic conditions Rainfall
Rainfall seasonality
Ecosystem conditions Soil erosion (USLE)
Ecosystem resilience
Area of marginal soil used
Accessibility

Benefits and subsidies

EU production subsidies
Internal resources mobilisation

Change in farm income Net farm income
Prices of agricultural products
Demand for agricultural products
Crop Productivity
Farm ownership
Development of tourism Tourism change
Protection by national parks
Land Use Policy
Policy enforcement
Tourism intensity
Tourist destination
Changing rural population Demographic variation index
Farmer's age
Parallel employment
Mortality rate
Adult education level
Transient Population
Expansion of use of irrigation Expenditure on energy
Expenditure on water
Irrigated area
Groundwater depth (change in)
Drainage
Irrigation potential realised
Consequences of what is observed (or impacts and responses)
Exploitation of resources Current land tax system
rate of renewal of resources/ rate of use
Progressive decline in traditional agriculture Land abandoned from agriculture
Period of existing land use type
Land Use History

Development of new activities (apart from irrigated agriculture)

Farmer cooperatives
Number of EU environmental certified company/Total companies

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