The North African Environment at Risk

Deforestation, soil erosion, desertification, air and water pollution, loss of wildlife habitat, and declining biodiversity are interrelated manifestations of a growing environmental crisis in North Africa that has received relatively little attention from government policymakers and is poorly understood by North African peoples, the international development community, and scholars. In this book a multidisciplinary group of scholars explores the broad range of human activities causing the deterioration of North Africa’s fragile environment, including population pressure and poverty, rapid urbanization, intense competition for land and water, and mismanagement of natural resources. The contributors examine in particular the conflict between economic development and environmental sustainability. They analyze the historical roots of current environmental problems, the underlying socioeconomic causes, potential solutions, and differences in environmental policies among various countries. This is an insightful portrait of a developing region attempting to reconcile traditional methods of land use with growing demands for resources, the exigencies of economic development, and the limitations of its natural resource base.