Professor Constantinos Kosmas of the Agricultural University of Athens, Greece warned that recent studies have shown 39% of the country - particularly the island of Crete -- to be at high risk of desertification, 49% at medium risk, and only 16% at low risk. He blamed inefficient water use, poor farming practices, and other human activities for the phenomenon, saying that specific remediation measures would depend upon the region affected. For example, in olive-growing areas, cutting back on flood irrigation - which intensifies soil erosion - would be helpful. In grazing areas, if the number of livestock in a given area were decreased, the disappearance of vegetation could be slowed. Lecturer Khristos Karavitis of the Management of Aquatic Resources section at the Agricultural University confirmed that less wasteful irrigation techniques would save a tremendous amount of water.