The most valuable resource of all, land, needs to be protected against degradation. Most of the world's land is used for agriculture.

Land in England and Wales is being submitted to stress. Witness the battles about space for motorways and new housing. Road building accounted for 13% of all changes in land use in England between 1985 and 1990.

Pressures from farming practice include damage to the soil, especially under intensive cropping.

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We travel more, tip more waste and demand more from it for our leisure.

In developing countries, forests are cut down to expand land area for agriculture. If they farm intensively, they often move on to better land. The soil can become "nutrient poor", leading to desertification, as in the Sahel.

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