Land improvement

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Land improvement or land amelioration is making land more usable by humans.

In terms of agriculture amelioration includes:

Hydrological improvement (drainage, irrigation, leaching of saline soils, landslide and flood control)
Soil improvement (fertilization, establishment of proper chemical balance).
Soil stabilization/erosion control
Road construction
Afforestation, as a means for both water conservation and land protection

Uncontrolled land utilization expanded the above traditional categories with actions for combatting soil degradation:

Combating desertification
Polluted land reclamation
Land rehabilitation after industrial or mining usage

[edit] Ecological problems

Massive land amelioration without proper consideration of ecological and geological consequences is known to lead to massive disasters. Examples:

Catastrophical buildup of soil salts and solonchak formation, e.g., in Central Asia, as a consequence of irrigation by saline groundwater.
Desertification, soil erosion and ecological shifts due to drainage.