TY - JFULL AU - Abdelsalam Omran Gebril and Ali Gh Saeid PY - 2012/11/ TI - Importance of Pastoral Human Factor Overloading in Land Desertification: Case Studies in Northeastern Libya T2 - International Journal of Environmental and Ecological Engineering SP - 687 EP - 693 VL - 6 SN - 1307-6892 UR - https://publications.waset.org/pdf/8082 PU - World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology NX - Open Science Index 70, 2012 N2 - Grazing and pastoral overloading through human factors result in significant land desertification. Failure to take into account the phenomenon of desertification as a serious problem can lead to an environmental disaster because of the damages caused by land encroachment. Therefore, soil on residential and urban areas is affected because of the deterioration of vegetation. Overgrazing or grazing in open and irregular lands is practiced in these areas almost throughout the year, especially during the growth cycle of edible plants, thereby leading to their disappearance. In addition, the large number of livestock in these areas exceeds the capacity of these pastures because of pastoral land overloading, which results in deterioration and desertification in the region. In addition, rare plants, the extinction of some edible plants in the region, and the emergence of plants unsuitable for grazing, must be taken into consideration, as along with the emergence of dust and sand storms during the dry seasons (summer to autumn) due to the degradation of vegetation. These results show that strategic plans and regulations that protect the environment from desertification must be developed. Therefore, increased pastoral load is a key human factor in the deterioration of vegetation cover, leading to land desertification in this region. ER -