The Rangelands of Libya

Libya remains a land with a harsh arid climate, a land rich in millennia of troubled history, a land where the Sahara meets the Mediterranean Sea, a land where the West and the East Mediterranean merge. Libya is also a land where the desert and agricultural fields intermingle in the steppe country, where rainfall is unpredictable, and the soils are poor, rocky, and saline. This has rendered rainfed cultivation hazardous, thus grazing and rainfed cropping have long been the only viable agricultural options. Over the past 60 years, oil resources have allowed gigantic agricultural development projects, urbanization, road network expansion and well drilling. This changed the ways of life of rural populations, impacting and undoubtedly altering rangeland conditions and systems, as well as native vegetation cover, wildlife, and land use.

This book reviews the past and current environmental and agricultural conditions of the Libyan rangelands with examples of how territories and resources are used by tribal communities. It describes, explains and illustrates the landscapes, the vegetation, the wildlife, the rainfed cereal systems and livestock systems, the reasons for the rampant overstocking, the relentless land clearing for hazardous cropping and uncertain irrigation projects, the wild fuelwood collection and charcoal manufacturing, and how all this has triggered land degradation and desertification. Long-tested rangeland recovery and rehabilitation techniques in Libya are reviewed using appropriate plant material and proven establishment techniques, with successes and failures assessed.