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Victorian Resources Online

Land Degradation

Land degradation occurs when the land becomes unstable. Land degradation can display as a loss of vegetative cover, an undesirable change to the soil (eg. salinity), or as soil erosion.

Land degradation can be considered in 3 categories:


Soil Erosion

This is the where soil is scoured and lost from its position in the landscape. More information on these processes, and on occurrence in Victoria is available on the soil erosion pages.


Soil Degradation

This is the in-place decline in soil quality. More information on the types and their processes is available on the soil degradation pages.


Ecosystem Decline

This is where ecosystem vigour is reduced resulting in loss of ecosystem services. More information is available on the ecosystem decline pages.
Photo showing land degradation of the Challicum Hills
Photo showing degraded agricultural catchment in the Challicum Hills near Ararat in western Victoria.


Reporting on Land Condition

Catchment Condition Report 2007 (external link)
This is the latest 5 yearly report of the Victorian Catchment Management Council


Land Degradation in Victoria

A brief review of Land Degradation in Victoria since European settlement including a 1944 map of soil erosion hazard and incidence published in 1944
Case Studies in Land Degradation

Case studies of land degradation (tunnel erosion in Victoria) are available on the VRO website



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