Read at : Google Alert - desertification
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/news/stories/200804/s2210726.htm?tab=asia
Vast areas in Vietnam risk becoming desert
A senior Vietnam government minister has warned more than nine million hectares of land in Vietnam are at risk of desertification. The Thanh Nien daily reports Deputy Science and Technology Minister Tran Quoc Thang as saying that Vietnam loses 20 hectares of farmland a year to drought and desertification, while erosion is damaging the fertility of hundreds of additional hectares. Last year the agriculture ministry warned that Vietnam, which has signed the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, has more than 4.3 million hectares of barren land, affecting about 20 million people. Several foreign development agencies are funding programs in forestry, irrigation and water resource protection.
