Introduction

This special issue of Environmental Monitoring and Assessment is devoted to a selection of peer-reviewed papers presented at the International Symposium and Workshop on Desertification in Developed Countries: Why Can’t We Control It? The symposium and workshop were held in Tucson, Arizona, October 24–29, 1994, with the last day being devoted to six workshops, each of which discussed and made recommendations on one of the following desertification-related topics: common indicators, stressors, socioeconomic factors, innovative approaches, consistent problems, and a proposed symposium and workshop to be held in 1997.