This atlas represents the current stage of our understanding of desertification, its extent and its possible solutions. One of the clearest ways to depict a global problem is to show it in an atlas. If it is true that one picture tells a thousand words, it is probably also true that one map of a global situation tells many more than a thousand words. The atlas is structured in three parts, dealing with global, continental and national/local situations. Different countries have taken different approaches in assessing the extent of desertification. Their surveys provide greater detail of the problem at a national or local scale, and give illuminating insights into both the scale of desertification, and its various forms. This difference of approach has demanded a thematic approach for the atlas.