The protection of fertile soils is a precondition for sustainable development. In the final document of the conference of the United Nations on sustainable development in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro (Rio+20 Conference), the international community thus agreed to strive for a “land degradation neutral world”. The legal study by Ecologic Institute, Berlin, firstly scrutinizes some national legislation (Germany/EU, USA and Brazil) in order to identify legal instruments which are suitable for the implementation of the goal of a “land degradation neutral world”.

The GEF Land Degradation Focal Area provides the framework for eligible countries1 to utilize GEF resources for implementing the UNCCD. Through the focal area, the GEF provides incremental financing for countries to invest in sustainable land management (SLM) activities that generate multiple environmental and development benefits. In most developing countries, SLM represents a major opportunity for sustainable intensification of existing farmlands, leading to sustained productivity.

Through its two components: Land for Life Award and Awareness raising and Knowledge Support, the Land for Life programme will show-case and highlight how the existing local, national and regional efforts in rehabilitating and managing the land sustainably, bring multiple benefits to communities through increased land productivity, employment opportunities, greater resilience in the face of climate change and more.

Human activities are the principal drivers of the processes of land degradation, desertification and climate change. Though highly complex and difficult to predict, interactions between climate change and land degradation are likely to affect a range of different ecosystem functions and the services they deliver, with consequent impacts on food production, livelihoods and human well-being. Society must therefore mitigate or reverse these stresses through innovative approaches.

Energy is central to nearly every major challenge and opportunity the world faces today. Be it for jobs, security, climate change, food production or increasing incomes, access to energy for all is essential. Sustainable energy is an opportunity too as it fuels lives, economies and the planet. Getting sustainable energy to all who want it represents one of the biggest development challenges of the 21st century.

Two billion hectares of productive land are degraded worldwide. This is an area larger than South America or twice the size of China, and 500 million hectares of this is abandoned agricultural land. We continue to degrade another 12 million hectares of productive land every year. We need to break this destructive cycle because the benefits of preventing land degradation and reversing it are far greater than the gains from degrading new land year after year.

The SWSR is a reference document on the status of global soil resources that provides regional assessments of soil change. The information is based on peer-reviewed scientific literature, complemented with expert knowledge and project outputs. It provides a description and a ranking of ten major soil threats that endanger ecosystem functions, goods and services globally and in each region separately. Additionally, it describes direct and indirect pressures on soils and ways and means to combat s oil degradation.

In West Africa, many countries are adversely affected by the effects of desertification, land degradation and drought(DLDD), with climate change also increasingly making an impact on local livelihoods. The most visible consequences are a loss of soil fertility and a reduction in agricultural productivity, which can lead to food and social crises and, consequently, to increased poverty. Furthermore, farmers are often forced to exploit the land to its maximum capacity in order to obtain good yields and to avoid the risk of famine.

The workshop, “System Analysis for Rangeland Management in Yabello”, involved multiple stakeholders analyzing the complex factors that affect rangeland condition and management, and considering implications for planning and decision-making around key issues. The workshop aimed to complement activities which are already ongoing including the planning being done by community Rangeland Councils in Yabello Woreda and elsewhere in Borena Zone.

Report on Potential Business Opportunities from Saline Water and Salt-affected Land Resources

Sub-Saharan Africa suffers widespread nutrient mining, raising the problem of insustainable intensification. Understanding the relationship among soil nutrient balance, intensification and farm’s economic performance can help improve the efficiency of policy intervention, as well as contribute to the body of knowledge for farm design. This study’s main objectives were to analyse the soil nutrient balances of different farm types and their linkage with farm economic performances and to evaluate scenarios for replenishing soil nutrients in smallholder farms.

Integration of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets into the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the Intergovernmental Working Group report on land degradation neutrality