Despite the fact that desertification is not a new concept, having occurred for "millennia" (Grainger, 1990) or "since the Neolithic" (Spooner, 1985), it has only in the last three or four decades been thrust into the limelight. It was conceptualised as a serious problem for the first time in the 1970s, upon the recognition of the varying patterns of spatial desert conditions, especially in the Sahel, where such changes coincided with a period of sustained drought. It was perhaps the "first big environmental issue" (Thomas + Middleton, 1994) which encompassed not only environmental issues, but also wider social, political and economic angles. It is thus no surprise that its study, interpretation and extent are clouded with controversy, as the complexity of the issue does not lead to any universally accepted and agreed explanations of the phenomenon. This complexity is further hampered by our practical inability to extrapolate individual causes and effects, from what is in reality, an interactive, multi-factorial system.

"Desertification is fraught with confusions and contradictions, generalisations based on a lack of data, and uncertainties stated as facts

For the conference to get over the first hurdle, they had to initially tackle the controversial definitional issues, which in some instance, had led to gross overestimations of the extent of desertification by up to 66 %. (Thomas, in Ringrose et al 1995) The term desertification had, since its inception by Aubreville (1949) been adapted into popular parlance, resulting in it being "generally overused and misused as a result." (Middleton, 1987) An element of social or interpretational relativism hampered attempts to clearly define desertification, as the differing views of each of the commentators resulted in differing, and often conflicting, aspects that each thought should be included in a definition. Generally, our increasing knowledge has allowed us to refine the definition over the years, such that it has become more specific over time. An early attempt was simply "the spread of desert like conditions", which has since been replaced many times, up to the one in present usage, finally adopted by UNCED in 1992/3; "desertification is land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and adverse human impacts". By introducing "land degradation" it was implicitly understood that desertification leads to long lasting and possibly irreversible desert-like conditions. This definition also brings to play the relative contributions of human and natural factors, which themselves are causes of much controversy, as well as the spatial extent of desertification, which is now known not only to occur on desert borders, but in a number of dryland environments.

However, in spite of the effort put in, and continuing to be donated, to the resolution of all definitional controversies, there are still commentators who disagree with the need for a separate term to cover what they think, is covered by the term "land degradation". Le Houerou (1959) preferred to use "desertisation" as a term to describe the extension of the desert into areas previously not desert as a result of adverse human actions. El Baz (1983) said further that both the terms desertification and desertisation were "vague and unnecessary", and recommended the universal use of the already defined term "land degradation", which could be tailored to each individual user. (Verstraete, 1983). This would be one way, he said, to avoid the definitional controversies of desertification. However, this may lead to further confusion, as people are forced to disaggregate human and natural factors. "I have regarded rainfall fluctuations as contributing to desertification, although I viewed the degradation as mainly man-made." (Rapp, 1987) This would then bring us back to the idea of contrasting individual interpretations. It is clear that the definition in use at present is by no means the last, and can't fully encompass the whole suite of interrelated causes and effects, mediated over numerous spatial and temporal scales. Nevertheless, even if one was able to find such an answer, we would still be left to debate the particulars of the term 'desert". Thus, desertification seems the best term to use as opposed to any other, for it is "a more encompassing word to refer to the whole process. (Verstraete, 1986 in Grainger, 1990) One argument remains that its present global usage is strong justification for its future use. Nevertheless, it will remain a problem for all authors, that before one can talk about the causes and effects of desertification, they must first define how they interpret the term. The only way to eradicate definitional problems is to continue research, such that it would provide a firmer quantitative basis upon which to form a more objective judgement.

There is much disagreement as to whether desertification actually exists. Lamprey's (1975) study of the advancing Sahara boundary was perhaps the first to be widely accepted amongst the scientific community. His results over a seventeen year monitoring

Some common words found in the essay are:
Olsson Ahlcrona, Finally CO2, El Baz, Hellden Grainger, Thomas Ringrose, Neolithic Spooner, Faso Lindqvist, Programme UNEP, Province Sudan, Control Bulletin, et al, adverse human, mortimore 1987, hellden 1991, tucker et, tucker et al, thomas +, carrying capacity, mace 1991, khalaf 1989, sahara desert, + middleton 1994, social political economic, thomas + middleton, desertification control bulletin,
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