ABSTRACT
The increasing human pressure concurrent with recent socioeconomic changes in the Mediterranean coastal zone of Egypt effectuated fast development of land-use practices. Clearing of natural vegetation for use as fuel wood and for agricultural purposes (cultivation of fruit trees and cereal crops) is conflicting with the mobility necessary for the rational traditional system of grazing, beside other land-use practices and activities of better income for inhabitants. The analysis and comparison of the present (1979) land-use patterns with those of thirty years ago, based on aerial photographs and field mapping provide evidence of the consistent specialization of various sectors of land for particular land-use practices. Such specialization may be attributed largely to certain socioeconomic changes and to the unsuccessful spontaneous extension of agriculture to certain sites. This specialization does not halt the ongoing processes of environmental degradation.
