This resource is an excellent starting point for both teachers and students, with a range of interactive tools for students to work on an independent enquiry on desertification. It begins by explaining the problem and the process of desertification, and then continues to its main content on the effects. Here, a range of case studies are explored, with an interactive mapping tool and embedded video clips. Case studies include Mexico, China and the Sahel region of Africa. It ends by exploring solutions such as the Great Green Wall, and how students can help at an individual level, encouraging activism. 

This harrowing book emphasises that human-induced climate change is leading us fast to the point of no return for the planet. We now have a small window to act, with the writer stating that ‘we have solved problems in the past and can do it again’. This book aims to bring home the stark realities of the problems that will lead us to act, otherwise the planet awaits a dire future, and this is linked closely to desertification throughout the book. The writer focuses on droughts in the Middle East, desertification in China and Africa, and intense heat waves in Australia. These all lead to rebellions, starvation, and migration. Extracts from this book are ideal for explaining to students the importance of desertification and its threat to humanity.

This book is a must-read for all Geography teachers, and the perfect starting point when investigating our threatened ecosystems. Chapter 6 is designated to deserts and the following chapters on the savannah and rainforests are also directly relevant, as is the prior chapter on farmland. The narrative is that we are entering a new geological epoch, from the Holocene to the Anthropocene, and that in this new era we are doing irreversible damage. Population expansion and intensive farming are to blame as the writer explores the effects on tribespeople near Lake Turkana in Kenya. The book follows the efforts individuals and communities make to stop this, although these are small scale (as in this case), and while ingenious, are often low impact. This is therefore highly suited to any GCSE or A-Level syllabus, as all have a large Living World unit.

This resource is an assessment of the progress of the Great Green Wall, the high-profile strategy to tackling desertification across Africa. The report starts with a useful and accessible overview of the issues that the region faces by way of land degradation, before moving onto an explanation of the project and the need for funding. Page 51 onwards provides very useful country data, with a map, a summary of the issues faced, and progress made on the wall along with its scope to reduce desertification. This is useful for students to be able to assess management strategies for this growing problem, as well as the barriers faced in different environments. 

This clip visually explains how desertification happens.