B. Almeria

Question 1

What is desertification?

Answer 1

Desertification is the process of land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas caused by adverse human impact.

It involves the destruction of the biological potential of the land which can ultimately lead to desert-like conditions

Question 2

How much rainfall does Almeria receive a year?

Answer 2

Almeria receives <300mm of rainfall a year = semi-arid area

Question 3

How much biodiversity does Almeria support?

Answer 3

Almeria supports a large variety of plants, grasses, animals and insects

Question 4

How is Almeria being degraded

Answer 4

Overgrazing

• Compaction of the ground increases damage from rain splash
• Reduced plant growth due to livestock

Quarrying

• Gypsum contains groundwater, which is lost when the mineral is mined

Tourism

• Tourist sites and golf courses tap into aquifer for water, draining it over time.

Question 5

Which appropriate technologies are being used to reclaim desert land on a small scale?

Answer 5

• Traditional flood irrigation
• Drop irrigation
• Mulching (covering the soil with organic material)

Question 6

What are the pros and cons of appropriate technologies?

Answer 6

• [+] Low technology requirement
• [-] Small scale
• [-] Labour intensive

Question 7

What are the limitations of traditional flood irrigation?

Answer 7

• [-] Only possible near constant (non-episodic) rivers
• [-] Small scale

Question 8

What are the pros and cons of drop irrigation?

Answer 8

• [+] Less water intensive than traditional flood irrigation = no wastage / evaporation
• [-] Small-scale
• [-] Requires setup = expensive

Question 9

What are the positives of mulching?

Answer 9

• [+] Holds water and reduces evaporation
• [+] Reduces rain splash and surface runoff
• [+] Reclaims / regenerates degraded soil

Question 10

How does Almeria’s 1982 water treatment plant reduce desertification?

Answer 10

Water used for agriculture (irrigation) after use in tourism, reducing consumption from aquifers inland

Question 11

How large was the pledge to reduce deforestation made by the 1996 UN Convention to Combat Desertification?

Answer 11

• Signed by over 100 countries
• Promises international finance and cooperation to achieve major planting and reclamation schemes.

Question 12

What is the Green Link project and how ambitious is their plan?

(Southern Spain - not to be confused with Great Green Wall (Sahel)!

Answer 12

The Green Link project is a tree replanting project, planting trees by hand as well as by drone across Southern Spain to combat desertification.

Their plan is to restore 1 million hectares of land, planting 500,000 seeds over 50 hectares at a time by drone.

Question 13

Why are reafforestation projects such as the Green Link project important?

Answer 13

• Trees bind the soil together, preventing sheetwash
• Trees protect soil from evaporation and help prevent capillary movement of water through the soil.

Question 14

How much water does Almeria’s desalinisation plant produce each year?

Answer 14

180,000m3 of drinking water produced each year

• 87% goes into irrigation
• Significant in supplementing only < 300mm of rainfall a year

Question 15

What are the drawbacks of Almeria’s desalinisation plant?

Answer 15

• Extremely expensive = €130m for one plant
• High energy consumption - 5-10kwH for 1m3 water, most of energy demand met by fossil fuels
• Desalinised water is therefore very expensive - farmers and hotels may continue to take water from illegal bore holes
• Brine discharged into sea - contains chlorine, anti-scaling and anti-caking agents (to prevent salt build-up) ↓
• This brine has a significant detrimental effect on marine life, especially starfish and sea urchins

Question 16

What is the name of Almeria’s desalinisation plant?
How much of Almeria does it serve?

Answer 16

Bajo Almanzora
Serves 15% of the population - 300,000 people