denudement

Noun

 * 1) The process of denuding or stripping bare.
 * 2) * 1954, University of Chicago. Dept. of Geography, Research Paper (issues 38-41, page 173)
 * The hill sides, however, have been abused by over-intensive farming, bad land use, and reckless denudement. The soil has been butchered; erosion runs rampant.