干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

According to the National Action Plan to Combat Desertification in Armenia, about 24,353 kill 2 of the territory of the Republic, 81.9% (excluding the surfaces of Lake Sevan and water reservoirs), are to different extents exposed to desertification: 26.8% of the total territory of Armenia faces extremely severe desertification; 26.4%, severe desertification; 19.8%, moderate desertification; and 8.8%, slight desertification. Only 13.5% (400 km(2)) of the territory is not exposed to desertification. In the period between 1950 and 1999, the area of arable land in Armenia decreased by 166,600 ha: meadows by 15,600 ha and pastures by 136,500 ha. There are different problems resulting desertification in Armenia. The paper presents the state of the art of land and soil recourses, the set of problems of soil degradation in Armenia and describes policy measures and shortcomings.