The challenge of land degradation Sustainable land use is closely connected with many sustainable development objectives Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN).  It is estimated that two billion hectares of land is degraded worldwide, and we continue to degrade another 12 million hectares of productive land every year. According to the 2018 World Atlas of Desertification produced by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, 75% of the Earth’s land area is already degraded, and over 90% could become degraded by 2050.

Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM) will help countries understand how much of their land offers restoration opportunities, map where those opportunities are and determine which degraded landscapes offer the most value to society. Global analysis has found more than two billion hectares of land across the planet that could benefit from restoration. What do these opportunities look like at the necessary, landscape level?

UNDP’s support to countries on sustainable land management and restoration is designed to enhance livelihoods, secure food and water, build resilience and increase carbon storage and sequestration. Drawing on over 40 years of experience and expertise, UNDP assists countries to integrate land and related environmental concerns into national and sectoral development plans and strategies, secure resources, and implement programmes that advance inclusive, sustainable growth and development.

This publication supports processes related to rural communities’ resilience in implementing land restoration of the Great Green Wall Programme on the ground. It serves a dual purpose of consolidating biophysical operations and socio-economic assessments, and is mainly built on five-year interventions and practical experiences gathered through Action Against Desertification. The first part of the publication is a practical manual expressly created for stakeholders, partners, non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations.

These guidelines have been developed based on FAO’s and WOCAT’s extensive experience. The book draws, in particular, on WOCAT’s network and its database of SLM knowledge - as well as on WOC AT’s first overview book entitled ‘Where the land is greener’. These guidelines were implemented in the framework of the TerrAfrica partnership, whose main objective is to mainstream and upscale SLM in SSA, through the leveraging and harmonising of multisectoral investments at the local, country, subregional and regional levels.

The negative consequences of human actions have brought our world and our future to a dangerous crossroads: will we be able to avert the worst impacts of climate change? How can we stop and reverse the loss of fertile soil, biodiversity, and other natural capital that supplies all our food and other basic needs? Where are the jobs for millions of unemployed young people?

Many drylands in the world suffer problems of land degradation and desertification derived from human activities and exacerbated by drought. Too often these degradation processes have been endured by the ecosystems for a long time, and, according to forecasts of climate change, are likely to worsen in the future. Ecological restoration combined with adaptive management can be effective tools in response to this environmental and socioeconomic problem.

This chapter sets out to present a short review of (i) the general context of land degradation under the framework of UNCCD – the international convention on desertification with a specific focus on Land Degradation Neutrality, and (ii) examples of the main processes responsible for soil degradation (e.g. surface crusting, runoff and water erosion, tillage erosion, wind erosion, and salinization), along with the principles of desertification control and land rehabilitation, in light of the socioeconomic context and ecological conditions and processes.

The climate-smart village approach created enthusiasm and commitment from farmers in seeking solutions to the problems and constraints that they themselves identified. The approach also involved strengthening the capacity of technical staff to use new tools, and to understand and support the new methods, with complementary finance to support the changes.

Drylands occupy more than 40% of the world’s land area and are home to some two billion people. This includes a disproportionate number of the world’s poorest people, who live in degraded and severely degraded landscapes. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification states on its website that 12 million hectares are lost annually to desertification and drought, and that more than 1.5 billion people are directly dependent on land that is being degraded, leading to US$42 billion in lost earnings each year.

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development has developed a comprehensive work program that can help its members better understand risks linked to inaction and opportunities for action, structuring its work program around the international discussions led by the UNCCD on LDN. In particular LDN is reflected in the WBCSD’s Action2020 targets of “restoring at least 12 million hectares per year of degraded land”, and a business solution on “Restoring Degraded Land” has been developed to provide a response to land degradation challenges and the LDN target.

The 2020 Africa SDG Index and Dashboards Report provides an assessment of where African countries stand with respect to the SDGs and their progress toward the goals, with the additional lens of “leave no one behind.” The report also includes a preliminary analysis of the impact of COVID‑19 on the SDGs in Africa.