Ifo, Dagahaley, and Hagadera refugee camps are located in Dadaab town in the North Eastern Province of Kenya, near the border with Somalia. The camps date back to 1991 when civil wars erupted on a large scale in Somalia. The conflicts, along with prolonged drought, forced more than 400 000 people from Somalia to flee to Kenya and another 500 000 to other neighboring countries. The 1986 image shows a fairly intact landscape dominated by shrub vegetation characteristic of the semiarid area. In the 2000 image, the Ifo, Dagahaley, and Hagadera refugee camps stand out distinctly, revealing the presence of over 100 000 refugees and the impact of a high concentration of people on the environment. Shrublands have been reduced largely to bare spots with sparse and stunted shrubs and grasses, while riverine vegetation has also suff ered loss and degradation.