Damascus-SANA
The Ministry of Local Administration and Environment has completed a project to study land degradation in the coastal area using remote sensing and geographic information system techniques.
The Director of Biodiversity in the Ministry, Engineer Bilal Al-Hayek, said in a statement to SANA’s delegate that the project was implemented over three years in several stages and aims to support the implementation of the national action plan to combat desertification in Syria and ensure the implementation of the strategic objectives of the International Convention to Combat Desertification and achieve the objectives of neutralizing land degradation in Syria “Al Sahel” as a case study.
Al-Hayek referred to the work steps of returning the satellite images, the first digital processing of them, the appropriate correction on them, the collection of climatic, economic and social data, statistics, studies and maps related to the coastal area, and the preparation of questionnaires for field work and the population participation program.
Hayek pointed to the implementation of training courses for the project staff in the field of land degradation, remote sensing and geographic information system. During the implementation period of the project, several field tours were carried out in the coastal area, through which the areas were classified according to the degradation methodology in the land degradation program and a survey of the procedures applied in combating erosion and land degradation During the field characterization of the visited areas, soil is one of the most important natural resources that play a major role in productivity and food security, in addition to its role in forming the natural habitat for plant and animal organisms.
According to Al-Hayek, the study developed soil erosion maps that show the causes, type and severity of the deterioration prevailing in each region, evaluate measures to combat land degradation, set priority maps for implementing land degradation reduction programs, and study the productive capacity of the Al-Sin Basin in Lattakia.
Al-Hayek indicated that descriptive soil erosion maps were prepared, priority hot areas were identified by the application of soil erosion control measures, a map of priorities for implementing anti-land degradation measures, a survey and evaluation of the remedial measures currently applied, and the evaluation of preventive measures that could be applied in the future in the coastal area.
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