ABSTRACT
Natural resources in the Arab region are facing severe degradation. This includes the degradation of land, and plant and animal water resource. Degradation has led to the reduction of biodiversity, and the spread of desertifi cation in the Arab region has reached to about 68.4% and could spread across 20% more in the dry and arid regions (AOAD 2012). Degradation has led to the extinction of vegetation in large areas which in turn leads to the reduction of wood production, energy, animal feed, poverty and raises the pressure on natural resources. In addition, the phenomenon of salinity is affecting large areas of land in Arab countries, particularly the irrigated lands in arid and semi-arid zones. According to the Annual Statistics of AOAD (2012), the studies showed that about 50% of the irrigated land in the Arab world is affected by the spread of salinization.
