Soil degradation costs Moldova 3.1 billion lei a year

Approximately 40% of Moldova's farmlands suffer from soil erosion as the figure increases by 0.9% each year, with the loss of fertile land standing at 26 million tonnes, - Ilie Boian, the head of the State Hydro-Meteorological Service, has told Info-Prim Neo on the occasion of the World Day against Desertification, observed annually on June 17. Ilie Boian says that negative processes like desertification have become more intense. Because of the global warming droughts are more frequent and more extensive. Droughts lead to the physical and chemical degradation of soils as the amelioration efforts undertaken by the government do not keep step with the intensity of their degradation. Extensive and unauthorized farming, clearance of woodland and steppes for farming purposes following denationalization, the use of environmentally hazardous technology, all have led to loss of fertility and productivity. The annual damage to the national economy associated with soil degradation is estimated at 3.1 billion lei, or $251 million. To prevent these processes, it is necessary to expand forested areas, meadows, pasturelands, and wetlands and undertake efforts to enhance soil fertility, says Ilie Boian. According to the United Nations Environment Program, desertification processes have severely affected over 40 million hectares of land globally.