SECOND CIRCULAR LETTER

Cartagena, Murcia, Spain12nd-17th September 2004

Ángel Faz CanoDepartment of Agrarian Science and Technology

Technical University of CartagenaPaseo Alfonso XIII, 48. 30203 Cartagena. Murcia. Spain

Tel.: +34 968 327 072. Fax: +34 968 325 435Email: icld4@upct.es • Website: http://www.upct.es/icld4

“Fourth International Conferenceon Land Degradation”

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE:

Hari Eswaran (USA). ChairpersonÁngel Faz Cano (Spain). Vice-chairperson

Selim Kapur (Turkey). Secretary

Members:Antonio Ramallho (Brazil)

Taweeesak Vearasilp (Thailand)O.A. Ogunsula (Nigeria)

Gabriel Dowouna (Ghana)Brenda J. Buck (USA)

José Luis Rubio (Spain)Hossein Khademi (Iran)

Maria Gerasimova (Russia)

LOCAL ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE:

Ángel Faz Cano. ChairpersonRoque Ortiz Silla. Vice-Chairperson

Gregorio García Fernández. SecretaryJosé Alberto Acosta AvilésJuan Albaladejo Montoro

María del Carmen Bueso SánchezDora María Carmona Garcés

Carlos García IzquierdoJoaquín Hernández Bastida

Juan Miguel Hernández HuéscarElizabeth Lam Esquenazi

Miriam Cecilia Llona CarrascoPurificación Marín Sanleandro

Silvia Martínez MartínezPedro Martínez Pagán

Ahmet. R. Mermut, Chairman Division I, IUSSJosé Matías Peñas Castejón

Asunción Romero DíazAntonio Sánchez Navarro

José Luis Tortosa MartínezAndrea Luciana Zanuzzi Gotta

Scientific presentations:

The Organizing Committee will finally decide if the paper can bepresented orally or as a poster.

Oral: Maximum 15 minutes including discussion. Overhead projec-tors, slide projectors for standard slides and Power Point IBM PCprojectors will be available at the different halls.

Poster: Authors will be requested to be at their posters during thesessions. Maximum size of posters: 160 cm (height) and 110 cm (width).

Poster should be written in English: oral presentation, preferablyin English, although presentations in Spanish are also possible.

Activities for companions:

Different activities and visits through Cartagena will be organized.They are guided and subject to minimum participation.

Accomodation:

As hotel reservations are required, you are requested to return theenclosed accomodation form, together with the registration form andits payment receipt. In order to avoid disappointment, early booking isadvised. Prices indicated are per room, per night, including breakfastand taxes. As Cartagena is very busy at that time of the year, weencourage the participants to book their rooms, directly with the hotels,by telephone, fax or Email including the code ICLD4. Those personsthat don’t reserve accommodation should find other possibilities, bythemselves, conditioned to vacancies. Student residence is also availableat lower price, but without including breakfast. Almost all hotels areclose to Conference venue, some in a walking distance (see enclosedmap).

Final programme:

The definitive programme will be available on the web page of theConference from middle August 2004. It will include the detailed list ofpapers indicating both, mode and date/time of presentation.

Useful hints:

Some useful information such us transport and connections fromairports to Cartagena, weather, technical equipment, electricity supply,etc., will be also available on the webpage.

Scientific Committee:

José Aguilar Ruiz; Juan Albaladejo Montoro; Charlie Arshad; JaimeBech Borrás; Brenda J. Buck; Wolfgang Burghardt; Rosa Calvo de Anta;Diego de la Rosa; Carlos Dorronsoro Fernández; Rafael Espejo Serrano;Hari Eswaran; Ángel Faz Cano; Gregorio García Fernández; Carlos GarcíaIzquierdo; Gerhard Gerold; Juana González Parra; Joaquín HernándezBastida; José Manuel Hernández Moreno; Raimundo Jiménez Ballesta;Nicolas Kalogerakis; Selim Kapur; Hossein Khademi; Elizabeth LamEsquinazi; Felipe Macías Vázquez; Purificación Marín Sanleandro; AhmetR. Mermut; Rocio Millán Gómez; Luca Montanarella; Jan van Mourik;Marc van Meirvenne; Roque Ortiz Silla; Mabel S. Pazos; Jaime PortaCasanellas; Antonio Rodríguez Rodríguez; Asunción Romero Díaz; JoséLuis Rubio Delgado; Antonio Sánchez Navarro; Juan Sánchez Díaz;Roland Schwab; Mariano Simón Torres; Michael Stocking; María LuisaTejedor Salguero; Tibor Tóth; Larry P. Wilding.

International Union of Soil Sciences • Spanish Society of Soil ScienceFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations • European Society for SoilConservation • Institute for Environment and Sustainability • European Conservation

Agriculture Federation • Spanish Society of Conservation Agriculture. Alive SoilsTechnical University of Cartagena • University of Murcia

Introduction:

The Working Group on Land Degradation and Desertification was initiatedas a Task Force during the 1st International Meeting on Land Degradationand Desertification in Adana (Turkey) in 1996. At the 16th World Congress in1998 in Montpellier, it was formally accepted as a Working Group of theInternational Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS).

A second Conference was held at Khon Kaen, Thailand. It was a greatsuccess with more than 200 participants. At the business meeting of theConference, it was recommended that the current participants continue theircharge of the Working Group and that elections of the officers be held at the17th Congress in Bangkok in 2002.

The 3rd Conference was hosted by the Brazilians at Rio de Janeiro,together with the meeting of the IUSS Subcommission C on Soil and WaterConservation, from 17-21 September 2001. It was organized by EmpresaBrasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa) in cooperation with Secretariatof Sustainable Development of Ministry of Environment and Institute ofAgronomy in Campinas, Sao Paolo.

During the business meeting, the 4th Conference was scheduled to beheld in Cartagena, Murcia, Spain, in the year 2004. Members of the WorkingGroup had an initial meeting in Murcia during the week of September 22ndto 26th, 2002, while they were participating in the International Symposiumon Sustainable Use and Management of Soils in Arid and Semiarid Regions.

Land degradation is a very serious global issue. It has adverse impactson land productivity, food security, climate change, environmental sustainability,and eventually the quality of life. The Conference aims to provide a forum fordiscussion on factors and causes of land degradation and its impact andconsequences on land use and the society. It also aims at discussing possiblesolutions using currently available data and technology together with possibi-lities of national and international legal systems.

The province of Murcia is one of the driest regions in Europe and isfacing many problems associated with agriculture and environment, includingscarcity of water, rapid urbanisation, salinization, soil erosion, and desertifi-cation. Explosion in greenhouse cultivation within the last two decades in theregion, using advanced plantation technologies, created new challengesregarding the use and management of soils under arid and semiarid conditions.New agricultural developments in Murcia came up as a response to externaldemand rather than taking into account the suitability of the soil to produceappropriate crops. Therefore, most of the products are not used locally andshipped immediately to North European markets. New agricultural practiceshave sometimes created many soil and environmental problems that may berestorable. The region has reached a critical level that requires a thoroughexamination of the water use efficiency under new sets of conditions.

The Conference is supported by the IUSS, Division I, and is open for landand water conservation researchers, educators, policymakers, practitioners,and advocates interested in land degradation throughout the world. TheConference will provide excellent opportunity to extend the personal andprofessional networks.

Conference tours are expected to bring colleagues from various partsof the world together to discuss professional issues and to get acquaintedwith the aforementioned local problems and challenges of land degradation.

Participants will receive an abstracts book together with invited lecturesas well as a CD.

Venue of the Conference:

The Conference will take place in Cartagena, Murcia, at the Auditoriumof the Technical University, placed in the Campus “Muralla del Mar”. The Cityof Cartagena, located in the South-East of the Iberian Peninsula, with apopulation of approximately 176,000 inhabitants, is the second largest city inthe region of Murcia. This city is surrounded by beautiful sandy beaches androcky cliffs and has one of the main harbours in the Mediterranean Sea.Cartagena has a very rich history which dates back to 227 B.C. It can bereached by plane, railway, and bus from the major cities in Europe. The Regionof Murcia has a Mediterranean type of climate, which is hot and dry in thesummer and a little rainy and mild in the winter. The region in general has alot of unique historical and tourist attractions with natural beauties. As a resultof these, Murcia receives many tourists.

Address of the Venue:

Building of “Antiguo Hospital de Marina”.Technical University of Cartagena.Campus Muralla del Mar, s/n.30202 Cartagena. Murcia. Spain.

Correspondence of the Secretariat:

All correspondence should be sent to the following address:

Gregorio García FernándezSecretary ICLD4

Department of Agrarian Science and Technology.Technical University of Cartagena.

Paseo Alfonso XIII, 48. 30203 Cartagena. Murcia. Spain.Tel.: +34-968-327072 - Fax: +34-968-325435.

Email: icld4@upct.es - Website: http://www.upct.es/icld4

Structure of the Conference:

The Conference will consist of invited lectures, scientific sessions withoral and poster presentations, and scientific excursions:

1) Invited lectures and scientific sessions: 13rd, 14th, 16th and 17 Sep-tember/2004.

2) Midweek scientific excursions: 15th September/2004.3) Conference banquet: 16th September/2004.

Main Topics of the Conference:

The main topics are indicated below, however, we welcome suggestionsfrom the prospective participants that may be of general interest:

1) Geographic perspective.2) Historical and archaeological perspectives of soil degradation.3) Linkages with global issues.4) Quantifying land resources stresses.5) Managing land quality to reduce degradation.6) Human impact on land degradation.7) Policy and legal framework.8) Rehabilitation of degraded land.

We also encourage participants to submit papers on land degradationstatus and problems of their respective countries or regions.

Registration Fee:

Registration fee will cover the receptions, abstracts and invited lecturesbook, coffee and tea, participation in the scientific sessions, midweek fieldexcursions, and others. The conference banquet is excluded from this price.

Members of SECS, IUSS and ESCS € 300Students (evidence in support) € 150Non-members € 400

Method of Payment:

Registration fee should preferably be paid by bank transfer. The totalamount in euros, as can be seen above, have to be transferred, indicatingvery clearly the code ICLD4, to the account number: 0049-6661-15-2516119598,Santander Central Hispano, Cartagena, office number 6661, Aire, 21 (fromoutside Spain, please consider IBAN: ES89 0049 6661 1525 16119598). Please,make sure that the surname of the registered person is clearly detailed onthe transfer receipt. Please, consider also that all the bank charges shouldbe paid by the person who is going to be registered.

Preliminary programme:

Date/time Activity

• 12 september (sunday):16.00 h-20.00 h Early on site registration20.30 h Welcome refreshment

• 13 september (monday):9.00 h-12.00 h On site registration9.30 h-10.30 h Opening ceremony10.30 h-11.00 h Coffee break11.00 h-12.00 h Session I. Geographic perspective.

Lead lecture. Dr. Hari Eswaran12.00 h-13.30 h Oral sessions I and II13.30 h-15.30 h Lunch break15.30 h-16.30 h Session II. Historical and archaeological

perspectives of soil degradation.Lead lecture. Dr. Selim Kapur

16.30 h-17.00 h Coffee break17.00 h-19.30 h Oral sessions III and IV19.30 h-20.30 h Poster session I21.00 h Welcome reception at the Technical

University of Cartagena• 14 september (tuesday)

9.00 h-12.00 h On site registration9.30 h-10.30 h Session III. Linkages with global issues.10.30 h-11.00 h Coffee break11.00 h-13.30 h Oral sessions V and VI13.30 h-15.30 h Lunch break15.30 h-16.30 h Session IV. Quantifying land resources

stresses. Lead lecture Dr. Jaime Porta16.30 h-17.00 h Coffee break17.00 h-19.30 h Oral sessions VII and VIII19.30 h-20.30 h Poster session II

• 15 september (wednesday)8.30 h-19.30 h Scientific excursions 1, 2 and 3

• 16 september (thursday)9.00 h-12.00 h On site registration9.30 h-10.30 h Session V. Managing land quality to

reduce degradation. Lead lecture.Dr. Ahmet R. Mermut

10.30 h-11.00 h Coffee break11.00 h-13.30 h Oral sessions IX and X13.30 h-15.30 h Lunch break15.30 h-16.30 h Session VI. Human impact on land

degradation. Lead lecture. Dr. José Aguilar16.30 h-17.00 h Coffee break17.00-19.30 h Oral sessions XI and XII19.30 h-20.30 Poster session III21.30 h Symposium banquet

• 17 september (friday)9.30 h-10.30 h Session VII. Policy and legal framework.

Lead lecture. Dr. Luca Montanarella10.30 h-11.00 h Coffee break11.00 h-12.30 h Oral sessions XIII and XIV12.30 h-13.30 h Session VIII. Rehabilitation of degraded land.

Lead lecture. Dra. Rosa Calvo13.30 h-15.30 h Lunch break15.30 h-16.30 h Business meeting16.30 h-17.00 h Coffee break17.00 h-18.00 h Concluding remarks and closing ceremony

Scientific excursions:

It is strongly recommended to confirm, by Email to the Secretariat,which excursion is going to be attended:

Excursion 1: Neogene quaternary basins of Mula and Fortuna. Bothbasins are very affected by erosion and degradation processes. In theMula basin, it includes the visit to a plant of Urban Solid Residues; butalso degraded landscapes will be observed, especially areas with badlandsand piping processes developed in abandoned fields. In the Fortuna basin,degraded landscapes will equally be seen and it also includes the visit totwo experimental stations in which experiences on soil bioremediationhave been carried out. The lunch will be in a nearby restaurant to theFortuna thermal resort.

Excursion 2: Valle del Guadalentín-Sierra Espuña. Combining agricul-tural use of soils and forestry. It will also include the examination of soilsaffected by salinization processes, the visit to a coordination centre (Tajo-Segura Archueduct central irrigation syndicate) where the most sophis-ticated systems to control irrigation of the soils will be observed. Finallythe visit to the Natural Park of Sierra Espuña mountain where both, itsedaphodiversity and its soil management, will be seen. Lunch will be ina typical restaurant placed in that natural park.

Excursion 3: Campo de Cartagena county-San Pedro del PinatarWater Desalinization Plant Reverse Osmosis for polluted water fromagricultural drainage-Escombreras-La Unión-Portman-Mar Menor. Mainlycontamination problems of soils affected by pollutants from agriculturaldrainage, mining and industrial activities. It will include the examinationof some technical solutions for the agricultural pollution and of the affectedsoils of the region and the visit to Portman Bay. The lunch will be in antypical restaurant along the Mar Menor shore.