Land-use planning (LUP), an instrument of land governance, is often employed to protect land and humans against natural and human-induced hazards, strengthen the resilience of land systems, and secure their sustainability. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) underlines the critical role of appropriate local action to address the global threat of land degradation and desertification (LDD) and calls for the use of local and regional LUP to combat LDD and achieve land degradation neutrality. The paper explores the challenges of putting this call into practice.

This study was motivated by the puzzlingly localised implementation of available Sustainable Land Management (SLM) practices despite the urgent need to reduce both land degradation and general poverty levels in the western highlands of Kenya. This research aimed to not only unravel reasons for the restricted geographical diffusion of SLM practices but also make concrete contributions to foster the promotion of SLM practices.

Desire for Greener Land compiles options for Sustainable Land Management (SLM) in drylands. It is a result of the integrated research project DESIRE (Desertification Mitigation and Remediation of Land - A Global Approach for Local Solutions). Lasting five years (2007–2012) and funded within the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme, DESIRE brought together the expertise of 26 international research institutes and non-governmental organisations.

There are millions of hectares of land in the Ukraine which either have been abandoned, or are farmed with a low land productivity due to severe land degradation. The Netherlands Embassy has requested a study to assess the opportunities and benefits of restoration of degraded steppe areas. The goal of this project is the restoration of degraded land and to develop more sustainable land use with a higher biodiversity. Innovative farming systems are proposed which are both economically and environmentally sustainable agricultural production systems.

Bodemgebruik omvat alle handelingen die worden uitgevoerd ten behoeve van inrichting, onderhoud en gebruik van recreatieve voorzieningen. Met recreatieve voorzieningen in het landelijk gebied wordt o.a. gedacht aan sportvelden, golfterreinen, faciliteiten voor paardensport, wandel- en fietspaden, recreatieterreinen, attractieparken, evenemententerreinen, volkstuincomplexen, campings en bungalowparken. Aan de hand van bodemfuncties is voor alle voorkomende handelingen een analyse gemaakt van de duurzaamheid ervan.

This paper serves three purposes. First, it gives a short introduction to the concept of sustainability in relation to land use. Since the Brundtland report it has become clear that sustainability is a dynamic concept that changes when conditions in society change. Moreover, it is easier to assess what is `unsustainable¿ than what is `sustainable¿. But that will not suppress the demand for sustainable developments.

Land cover data is widely used for the design and monitoring of land use policies despite the incapability of this type of data to represent multiple land uses and land management activities within the same landscape. In this study, we operationalized the concept of land systems for the case of the Lao PDR (Laos). Distinct land systems like shifting cultivation and plantations (land concessions) cannot be fully captured by land cover inventories alone, in spite of their relevance for land use policies.

Las familias de Shushufindi enfrentaron los altos niveles de contaminación de las aguas superficiales, los suelos y la calidad del aire en la zona, producto de la larga y violenta explotación petrolera de la Texaco, y, a modo de mantener su territorio, crearon estrategias para curar los suelos contaminados.

The Tenure Guidelines aim to serve as a reference, providing guidance to improve the governance of land, fisheries and forests so that it can contribute effectively to securing the right to adequate food. The Guidelines thus constitute an internationally agreed upon normative standard that assesses the actions and omissions of states, UN agencies as well as international organisations with respect to the way they regulate land, fisheries and forests in specific situations. See box 1 below.

FAO is pleased to announce the e-learning course on “Sustainable Land Management and Land Restoration”, which has been developed in collaboration with CIHEAM-Bari, WOCAT, ELD and University of Leeds.