Soil erosion and the threat to food security and the environment

摘要

Soil erosion from land areas is widespread and adversely affects the health of all natural and human managed ecosystems, including agriculture and forestry. For that reason soil erosion ranks as one of the most serious environmental problems in the world. Its effects are pervasive, and its damages last hundreds and thousands of years. This is especially important today with a human population of more than 6 billion and with more than 3 billion people who are malnourished (WHO 1996).