ABSTRACT
The rise and fall of ancient civilized societies can be related to land use or misuse. Fertile soils on the flood plains of major rivers in different parts of the world gave rise to early agrarian societies. The civilizations of Babylon, Egypt, India, and China all grew up alongside major rivers. In Europe, the Greeks and Romans were nourished by crops grown in the shallow, fertile soils derived from limestone in the mild climate of the lands around the Mediterranean. The Aztec, Maya, and Inca societies arose on the rich volcanic soils of the tropical highlands of Latin America. Many later societies also evolved in the fertile valleys of large rivers. They include people who lived alongside the Mekong and Chao Phraya in Southeast Asia; the Danube, the Rhine, the Elbe, the Volga, and the Thames in Europe; and the Mississippi and Missouri in North America. Land degradation was the major cause of the decline and fall of many ancient societies. Deforestation and soil erosion upstream, resulted in floods and siltation that overwhelmed many early agrarian societies. Our modern industrial society is exerting even greater stress upon the world’s land resources. Cities continue to expand over fertile farmlands, the impounded waters of dams built for hydroelectric generation and water supplies have flooded valleys with fertile alluvial soils. In many countries, derelict, mined lands and disposal of urban-industrial wastes in landfills have created serious environmental concern. One of the great strengths of modern agriculture is that it can produce large amounts of food and fibre with minimal inputs of human labour; it is however heavily dependent upon fossil fuel inputs. On the negative side, intensification of agriculture in many parts of the world has resulted in salinization of irrigated lands in the drier regions and the loss of forest vegetation in the humid tropics. Humans today are capable of either enhancing or impoverishing the natural resource base of the world much faster than in ancient times. The fundamental question that still remains after 7,000 years of human endeavour is: What is the best way to manage land resources to safeguard the well being of future human generations, and to sustain all forms of life-supporting ecosystems on earth?
