Responses to halt land degradation and to restore degraded land

Abstract

The most cost-effective approach to reduce land degradation in the long run is to follow the adage “prevention is better than cure” (well established) {6.3.1, 6.3.2, 6.4.2}. The economic consequences of land degradation are significant. For example, a study of fourteen Latin American countries estimated annual losses due to desertification at 8-14% of agricultural gross domestic products (AGDP), while another study estimated the global cost of desertification at 1-10% of annual AGDP. Across all biomes, estimates of the ecosystem service values lost due to land degradation and conversion range from $4.3 to $20.2 trillion per year. In a global study that considered values of forests for wood, non-wood products, carbon sequestration, recreation and passive uses, it was estimated that the projected degradation and land-use change would reduce the value of these forest ecosystem services by $1,180 trillion over a 50-year period, between 2000 to 2050 {6.4.2.3}. However, a broad range of sustainable land management, soil and water conservation practices, and nature-based solutions, have been effective in avoiding land degradation in many parts of the world (well established) {6.3.1, 6.3.2}. For example, agroecology, conservation agriculture, agroforestry and sustainable forest management can successfully avoid land degradation, while enhancing the provision of a range of ecosystem services (well established) {6.3.1.1, 6.3.2.3}. Many of these same techniques and measures can also be used to restore degraded lands, but may be more costly than their use for avoiding land degradation (well established) {6.3.1, 6.3.2}.