The author provides evidence to question many common assumptions about land degradation. What impact do displaced people and refugees have on the place where they eke out a living from resources under pressure? Gaim Kibreab questions the degree of impact on land degradation by war-displaced Eritreans on the Gedaref region of the Sudan. Was land degradation on and around the scheme really due to humans and their livestock? North America: Africa World Press/Red Sea Press