Reverse Land Degradation Research Articles

Look to seedling heights, rather than functional traits, to explain survival during extreme heat stress in the early stages of subtropical rainforest restoration

Abstract Ecological restoration is urgently needed to arrest and reverse land degradation, reinstate ecosystem services and recover threatened species. Tree planting is a commonly used strategy to restore forests; however, planted seedlings often experience low survival and slow growth during the establishment period. Critical evaluation of factors that lead to poor establishment is vital to improve practice but is often constrained by a lack of monitoring and reporting. We took advantage of a large monitoring dataset (~7,000 native trees from 23 species) to interrogate an extensive suite of environmental conditions and plant characteristics that potentially contributed to poor survival and growth of seedlings in a restoration planting in southeast Queensland, Australia. The initial height of planted seedlings strongly influenced survival and growth. Intermediate heights generally performed best and the optimal heights for different species were significantly but weakly modulated by functional traits including SLA, lamina area and leaf structure (compound vs. simple). Survival was lowest when seedlings were planted in high bulk density soils on hot days, and growth was fastest in plots with higher average elevation. Synthesis and applications. In this large restoration experiment in Australia's subtropics, initial seedling height was a much stronger predictor of rainforest seedling survival than plant functional traits. We recommend planting rainforest seedlings between 25 and 35 cm tall, especially in restoration projects facing a high likelihood of hot weather during planting and establishment.

International principles and standards for the practice of ecological restoration. Second edition

Ecological restoration, when implemented effectively and sustainably, contributes to protecting biodiversity; improving human health and wellbeing; increasing food and water security; delivering goods, services, and economic prosperity; and supporting climate change mitigation, resilience, and adaptation. It is a solutions-based approach that engages communities, scientists, policymakers, and land managers to repair ecological damage and rebuild a healthier relationship between people and the rest of nature. When combined with conservation and sustainable use, ecological restoration is the link needed to move local, regional, and global environmental conditions from a state of continued degradation, to one of net positive improvement. The second edition of the International Principles and Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration (the Standards) presents a robust framework for restoration projects to achieve intended goals, while addressing challenges including effective design and implementation, accounting for complex ecosystem dynamics (especially in the context of climate change), and navigating trade-offs associated with land management priorities and decisions.

Towards stopping land degradation in drylands: Water‐saving techniques for cultivating biocrusts in situ

AbstractIn recent years, inoculating sand surfaces with biocrust organisms has become one of the most promising biotechnological strategies for controlling and reversing land degradation in drylands. To fully exploit this biotechnology on a large scale in drylands, researchers must explore water‐saving techniques to incubate biocrusts in situ. To achieve this aim, we tested three methods—broadcasting dried cyanobacteria, spraying fresh cyanobacteria, and broadcasting natural biocrust fragments—to culture biocrusts in situ on the Tengger Desert in Northern China. The cover of incubated biocrust increased during the first 2 months after inoculation (from 6% to more than 20.0% in treatments using biocrust fragments); biocrust cover declined but persisted after 12 months of incubation (13.8% cover in the best treatment, natural cyanobacteria fragments). The cover of cyanobacteria was higher than the cover of lichen in our natural cyanobacteria‐lichen crust fragment treatment (NCL; p < .05) after incubating for 12 months. We highlight that cyanobacteria should be selected for biocrust incubation during the initial stages of dryland restoration. Accumulated rainfall was positively related to the cover of incubated biocrust. However, wind speed and wind erosion intensity were both negatively related to the cover of incubated biocrust. In conclusion, broadcasting biocrust fragments is a rapid, efficient, and water‐saving biotechnique to cultivate biocrusts in situ. Actions to reduce wind speed and wind erosion, such as mechanical sand fixing, can help stabilize soils and improve crust cultivation.

Localizing indicators of Sustainable Development Goals : A model in the context of Indian Himalayan States for SDG 13 and 15.

This paper argues the need and the mechanism to localize the indicators of SDG[Sustainable Development Goals] for Indian Himalayan States in the context of SDG Goal 13 and SDG Goal 15.Goal 13 of the SDG is to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts while Goal 15 of SDG aims to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss. These two goals out of the seventeen goals are directly related to environment, ecology and climate change. The Indian Himalayan Region[IHR] being the life sustaining system of millions of people and vast species of flora and fauna in uplands and much more in lowland areas due to its vast bio physical diversity also acts as a climate regulator for the continent. This paper first develops the context arguing why Goal 13 and 15 should be topmost priority for the Indian Himalayan states. The paper then recommends some sequential suggestive steps to develop a schema for monitoring the indicators suggested by UN, MoSPI, NITI Ayog. The paper suggests that the same can be substantiated into actual monitoring mechanism by mapping the relevant Centrally Sponsored Schemes( CSS),State Schemes ( SS) and EAP( Externally Aided Projects)in consonance with such indicators. The paper thus proposes the need for localized implementation of schemes for achieving the Goals and thereafter relevant monitoring of the same considering the basic characteristic of Himalayan states. The paper also insists for the research and study needs to identify the data gaps in each indicator proposed , by taking a case of Uttarakhand as a representative of Himalayan states of India and presents a model on how a Himalayan state should decentralize the monitoring mechanism of each indicator in different departments by following the model of the State of Uttarakhand. The paper finally presents policy asks for achieving those time bound targets by substituting SDG with HDG[Himalayan Development Goal].Indicators of UN, MoSPI, NITI Ayog, DES of Uttarakhand and some other Indian Himalayan states and various state government level departments have been used to carry out the study.

Analysis of Socioeconomic Impacts of the FSC and PEFC Certification Systems on Business Entities and Consumers

The article discusses the issues of effectiveness of the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) certification systems in relation to enterprises and the level to which the systems which present sustainability as a part of their ethos are accepted by consumers. The justifiability and topicality of this issue result from the increasingly strong interest in sustainability of the society as a whole as well as from the long-term vision of sector policies with respect to meeting the objectives of sustainable development. The increasing demand for natural resources exerts pressure on our planet. Sustainability is hence essential for our future and has long been in the centre of the European project. Its economic, social and environmental aspects which form the common objective of society have been acknowledged in EU agreements. A principal document of a global nature is the 2030 UN Agenda for Development, a sustainability programme which has the sustainability of forest ecosystems established in its Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss. Visions, direction and goals of sustainable development have also been stipulated in the Paris Agreement on climate change (COP21), in the Addis Ababa action programme and in The Future We Want declaration, namely in its Chapter II, which appeals to enterprises and industries for developing strategies which would contribute to sustainable development. This study aims to analyse and assess the justifiability of the existence of certification systems in relation to processing operators and end consumers in the Czech Republic. From the results of the study, it can be concluded that, despite the strong representation of selected certification systems in the Czech Republic, their effectiveness in economic, social and environmental terms is not perceived exclusively positive by businesses and consumers.

‘This country just hangs tight’: perspectives on managing land degradation and climate change in far west NSW

Discussions of land degradation often display a disconnect between global and local scales. Although global-scale discussions often focus on measuring and reversing land degradation through metrics and policy measures, local-scale discussions can highlight a diversity of viewpoints and the importance of local knowledge and context-specific strategies for sustainable land management. Similarly, although scientific studies clearly link anthropogenic climate change to land degradation as both cause and consequence, the connection may not be so clear for local rangelands communities due to the complex temporal and spatial scales of change and management in such environments. In research conducted in October 2015, we interviewed 18 stakeholders in the far west of New South Wales about their perspectives on sustainable land management. The results revealed highly variable views on what constitutes land degradation, its causes and appropriate responses. For the pastoral land managers, the most important sign of good land management was the maintenance of groundcover, through the management of total grazing pressure. Participants viewed overgrazing as a contributor to land degradation in some cases and they identified episodes of land degradation in the region. However, other more contentious factors were also highlighted, such as wind erosion, grazing by goats and kangaroos and the spread of undesired ‘invasive native scrub’ at the expense of more desirable pasture, and alternative views that these can offer productive benefits. Although few participants were concerned about anthropogenic climate change, many described their rangeland management styles as adaptive to the fluctuations of the climate, regardless of the reasons for these variations. Rather than focusing on whether landholders ‘believe in’ climate change or agree on common definitions or measurement approaches for land degradation, these results suggest that their culture of adaptation may provide a strong basis for coping with an uncertain future. The culture of adaption developed through managing land in a highly variable climate may help even if the specific conditions that landholders need to adapt to are unlike those experienced in living memory. Such an approach requires scientific and expert knowledge to be integrated alongside the context-specific knowledge, values and existing management strategies of local stakeholders.

Developing good practice guidance for estimating land degradation in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

In recent decades there have been numerous global and regional targets and initiatives to halt and reverse land degradation. The land degradation neutrality (LDN) target, embedded in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), provides a framework for countries to avoid or reduce degradation through sustainable land management, coupled with efforts to restore or rehabilitate degraded land. Here we present the key recommendations from the Good Practice Guidance (GPG) for monitoring and reporting on SDG indicator 15.3.1 (“proportion of land that is degraded over total land area”) and discuss how it could be used in the context of implementing the LDN target. SDG indicator 15.3.1 is assessed in terms of change in three sub-indicators: land cover, land productivity and carbon stocks. Each of these sub-indicators represents a unique perspective on the manifestation and assessment of land degradation. Global time-series datasets are a valuable recent development for monitoring landscape-scale changes, but variations in land conditions between countries, and differences in the sensitivities of these time-series datasets, present challenges in the selection of the most appropriate methods and datasets. Methods to combine the three sub-indicators for SDG indicator 15.3.1 need to account for variations in conditions over space and time, and potential differences in the representation of degradation among the sub-indicators and between countries. Without being prescriptive about the sources of data, the GPG aims to ensure technical soundness and consistency in estimation methods as well as comparability of results across countries and over time. The information provided by the three sub-indicators will assist countries to better understand their distribution and types of land degradation, and support countries to achieve their LDN targets. This paper presents some of the key methodological details of the GPG and describes how they can be used in the context of LDN implementation.

Half century change of interactions among ecosystem services driven by ecological restoration: Quantification and policy implications at a watershed scale in the Chinese Loess Plateau

The concept of Ecosystem Service (ES) has provided an underpinning framework for ecological restoration research and applications. Ecological restoration is a corrective intervention that aims to reverse land degradation and to contribute to the 2030 Global Sustainable Development goal of Land Degradation Neutrality. It is critical to investigate the long-term effects of ecological restoration and land use change on ESs and ES interactions (synergies or trade-offs) to better understand the mechanisms supporting this goal. This paper describes an analysis of land use and ESs using historical data for a typical watershed in Chinese Loess Plateau, which has experienced series of restoration activities since the 1950s. Six important ESs (food provisioning, soil retention, hydrological regulation, carbon sequestration, water purification and habitat provisioning for biodiversity) were quantified at eight intervals between 1958 and 2015. The interactions between ESs were evaluated by correlation analysis. The results show that soil retention, carbon sequestration, water purification and habitat provisioning for biodiversity increased significantly across the different land use types over several decades but not hydrological regulation. The relationship between ESs was found to be variable over different time periods and a transition point between 1990 and 1995 was identified. Grassland was found to maintain greater water yield than woodland with high values of other ESs. The results suggest that trade-offs between ESs can be mitigated by adjusting the proportion of some important land use types (such as woodland and grassland).

Assessing land condition as a first step to achieving land degradation neutrality: A case study of the Republic of Srpska

Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) is a key voluntary and aspirational target of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 which urges countries to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss. A first and critical important step in the implementation of LDN is assessing the current land condition using not only active restoration of degraded land, but also targeting land degradation drivers behind the land degradation process. In a first step to achieve these goals, countries were provided a global dataset for three sub-indicators of land degradation: land cover (LC), land productivity dynamics (LPD) and soil organic carbon (SOC). Here, we report on trends in these sub-indicators for the Entity Republic of Srpska (RS) as a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is a key analysis to inform the frame of reference or baseline conditions for the region to evaluate LDN across this region. Global data for LC for the RS indicates a 0.5% loss of forests (6400 ha) over the time period from 2000 to 2010. Of this area, 5000 ha were converted to cropland and an additional 1400 ha was converted to shrubs, grasslands and sparsely vegetated areas. LPD declined over 2.5% (63,500 ha) of the region. SOC declined on land use changed areas by 15.6% (74,609 Mg ha−1) over the same time period. Based on global data, we estimated that 3% of the country is in a degraded state. Based on interviews with local stakeholders in 31 local communities, the primary land degradation drivers were identified and validated by team experts. Depopulation and migration to urban centers were identified as the important underlying drivers of land degradation that most municipalities are facing. The most frequent direct drivers of land degradation across this region were land abandonment, floods, drought, erosion and urbanization. Land abandonment, more specifically, has resulted in conversion of agriculturally productive lands to lands dominated by a wide range of invasive species over the last 25 years. Continued land degradation is underpinned by the lack of understanding by stakeholders of the importance of land as a resource. In evaluating the status, trends and drivers of land degradation for this region, we have identified key areas or "hot spots" that may be targeted for restoration options and may be used to achieve LDN targets by 2030.

Rocketing restoration: enabling the upscaling of ecological restoration in the Anthropocene

In the 25 years during which the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) has overseen the publication of Restoration Ecology, the field has witnessed conceptual and practical advances. These have become necessary due to the scale of environmental change wrought by the increasing global human population, and associated demands for food, fiber, energy, and water. As we look to the future, and attempt to fulfill global restoration commitments and meet sustainable development goals, there is a need to reverse land degradation and biodiversity loss through upscaling ecological restoration. Here, we argue that this upscaling requires an expanded vision for restoration that explicitly accounts for people and nature. This expansion can assess success in a future‐focused way and as improvements relative to a degraded socio‐ecological system. We suggest that upscaling requires addressing governance, legal and ethical challenges, investing in technological and educational capacity building, bolstering the practical science necessary for restoration, encouraging adoptable packages to ensure livelihoods of local stakeholders, and promoting investment opportunities for local actors and industry. Providing SER embraces this socio‐ecological vision, it is ideally placed to aid the achievement of goals and remain globally relevant. SER needs to harness and coordinate three sources of potential energy (global political commitments, the green economy, and local community engagement) to rocket restoration into the Anthropocene. With principles that can embrace flexibility and context‐dependency in minimum restoration standards, SER has the potential to guide socio‐ecological restoration and help realize the ultimate goal of a sustainable Earth.

Effects of initial fertilizer treatment on the 10‐year growth of mixed woodland on compacted surface‐coal‐mine spoils, S. Wales

AbstractThe degradation of land formerly reclaimed after surface‐coal‐mining (opencast) is a widespread problem in upland Wales (UK). This community‐based project aims to support the voluntary sector in land reclamation by investigating the means of reversing land degradation. It explores ways of encouraging trees to ameliorate the severely compacted, infertile, mine‐soils typical of former opencast sites. This study evaluates the benefits of a single initial application of 2‐year slow release fertilizer (SRF), both with and without additional supplements, through a 10‐year controlled experiment in a mixed planting of common Alder (Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn), Oak (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl., Quercus robur L. and hybrids) supplemented with Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris, L.); Silver Birch (Betula pendula, Roth); Goat Willow (Salix caprea, L.) and Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia, L.). After 10 years, SRF treatment resulted in a small, marginally significant, decrease in survival (85% vs. 83%) across all species, except Oak, but SRF‐treated trees were significantly larger than those given no‐SRF at planting (421 cm vs. 368 cm). By contrast, in Year 5 data, only SRF‐treated Alders are marginally significantly larger, whereas in Years 1–3 across all six species, significantly more records show greater mean growth in trees with no‐SRF than those given SRF at planting. Probably, this delayed response to SRF treatment resulted from the slow development of the larger soil ecosystem. Treatment with additional supplements (double SRF, remineralization agent and superphosphate) tended to have negative impacts on growth but double SRF and to a lesser degree remineralization had a positive effect on survival.

Moving towards a twin-agenda: Gender equality and land degradation neutrality

The conceptual framework for Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) highlights that land degradation in developing countries impacts men and women differently, mainly due to unequal access to land, water, credit, extension services and technology. It further asserts that gender inequality plays a significant role in land-degradation-related poverty hence the need to address persistent gender inequalities that fuel women’s poverty in LDN interventions. This paper presents recommendations for moving towards a twin-agenda: gender equality and land degradation neutrality. It first introduces gender dimensions of current global environmental regimes, identifying critical interlinkages between gender equality and women’s human rights and land rights with a focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Next, it analyses gender entry points in the LDN conceptual framework, presenting promising gender mainstreaming practices in local efforts to address land degradation. The research methods of content analysis of relevant literature, including official documents of the UNCCD Conference of the Parties (COP); collection and analysis of case studies from different geographies to identify promising gender-responsive practices at country and local levels; and the analysis of the outcomes from a capacity building workshop on gender mainstreaming held during the COP13 in Ordos, China, in September 2017 are used to recommend how gender perspectives can be incorporated into policies, programs and interventions aimed to avoid, reduce or reverse land degradation at local and national levels.

Land use and land cover changes and the link to land degradation in Arsi Negele district, Central Rift Valley, Ethiopia

Accurate information on land use and land cover change (LULCC) is critical for understanding the causes of change and for developing effective policies and strategies to slow and reverse land degradation. In Ethiopia, the speed and scale of LULCC has been accelerated in the last 3–4 decades of the 21st century. The objectives of this study were to assess: (i) the extent of LULCC and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the link to land degradation; (ii) the causes of LULCC and implication for climate change adaptation. Satellite images analysis was used to detect the change in area and vegetation index, and farmers’ perception to see the magnitude of LULCC dynamics and causes of deforestation. Correlations were made between vegetation index with dry season rainfall and temperature. The analysis of confusion matrix of LULC classification showed 87% accuracy with Kappa coefficient of 0.84. In the period 1986–2016, agriculture and settlement areas have increased by 250% and 618%, respectively. On the other hand, forests and woodlands have decreased by 72% and 84%, respectively. These were also validated with the farmers’ quantification results with similar trends. Different causes have played roles in the dynamics of LULCC. The results showed that vegetation dynamics vary both spatially and temporally against precipitation and temperature. This study informs the need to focus on halting deforestation and development of alternative energy sources. It further helps to design future land management directions, landscape based adaptation and rehabilitation strategies to be considered by policy makers.

Contesting conventional wisdom on the links between land tenure security and land degradation: Evidence from Ethiopia

This paper examines the relationship between land tenure security and land degradation. It investigates how land degradation is viewed, and, in turn, managed by rural land users in Ethiopia through a case study in two districts of the Amhara region. Many have argued that Ethiopia’s land tenure system lacks the tenure security required to stimulate investment for enhanced agricultural productivity and sustainable land use. The state’s continued ownership of land has been widely criticized by scholars and international development agencies, arguing that it has created a high degree of tenure insecurity – which, is believed to be responsible for the lack of investment in land and the lack of environmental conservation. However, this paper argues that the narrative that the farmers’ lack of tenure security contributes to the widespread land degradation problem appears to be misleading. While the literature suggests an inverse relationship between land tenure security and land degradation, the evidence in this paper contradicts this and mobilises relevant data to explain why this is the case. Despite tenure insecurity, poor people in the two Amhara study sites are making substantial investments to halt and reverse land degradation – though to quite differing degrees – and by so doing, are simultaneously investing in the security of their land tenure.

Can Strategic Spatial Planning Contribute to Land Degradation Reduction in Urban Regions? State of the Art and Future Research

Land degradation is becoming a serious environmental issue threatening fertile agricultural soils and other natural resources. There are many driving forces behind land degradation. The expansion of artificial surfaces due to various economic activities, such as housing, industry, and transport infrastructure, known as soil sealing, constitutes one of the most intensive forms of land degradation in urban regions. Measures to halt and reverse land degradation require both strong land-use management policies, as well as effective spatial planning mechanisms. In this regard, strategic spatial planning has been increasingly practised in many urban regions worldwide, as a means to achieve sustainable land-use patterns and to guide the location of development and physical infrastructures. It is reasonable, therefore, to expect that strategic spatial planning can counteract the outlined undesired land degradation effects, specifically those resulting from soil sealing. In this paper, we review strategic spatial planning literature published between 1992 and 2017. The focus is on the phenomena causing land degradation that are addressed by strategic spatial planning literature, as well as on the mechanisms describing the role of strategic spatial planning in land degradation reduction. Results show that sustainable development and environmental concerns have become core objectives of strategic planning in recent years, yet references to the drivers of land degradation are rare. The mechanisms that exist are mainly intended to address environmental issues in general, and are not aimed at reducing particular forms of land degradation. The paper concludes by sketching future research directions, intended to support strategic spatial planning and land-use policymaking related to coping with the global phenomenon of land degradation.

Sustainable Development Goals on Energy and Environment: Key Issues in Sri Lanka

Aims: The purpose of this study is to investigate the key energy and environmental issues that Sri Lanka is to address under sustainable development agenda of the United Nations. Study Design: This study reviewed relevant recent studies and reports published by government and non-governmental sources on the issues in relation to selected sustainable development goals on energy and environment namely Goal 07- access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, Goal 13- combating climate change and its impacts, and Goal 15- protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss. Place and Duration of Study: The research was conducted in Sri Lanka during May to July 2017. Methodology: This paper is qualitative in nature and was conducted as a desk review using available resources online. Results: Issues relating to environment and energy are among the foremost important areas to be addressed for the realization of Sustainable Development Goals in Sri Lakethe. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals relating to energy and environment on the other hand tend to have captured the key energy and environmental in issues that Sri Lanka is to concentrate. Conclusion: Issues that Sri Lanka faces in environment and energy sectors can significantly be remedied when the country makes tangible progress on relevant SDGs. It is also noteworthy however that the strategies for achieving the sustainable development goals require integrated and holistic approach backed by bold policy, legal and institutional framework.

Restoration prioritization framework for roadway high cut slopes to reverse land degradation and fragmentation

Land degradation is one of the most critical global environmental threats. The EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 has appointed land degradation and ecosystems fragmentation caused by transport infrastructures as crucial threats to biodiversity. Implementing environmental criteria in roadway project conception phase for restoring large cut slopes will prevent this threat. There is a lack of decision support systems to implement environmental criteria in the decision making procedure to restore high cut slopes. The major difficulties have been building consensus and ensuring traceability and transparency from the panel of experts. This paper presents a hybrid framework capable of dealing with environmental criteria and also with conventional territorial and economic criteria. The decision support procedure combines the Analytical Hierarchy Process with the Delphi technique and the VIKOR procedure. The experts' consensual decision-making process is properly documented, unambiguous and verifiable. The results of this study yielded that the functional and environmental criteria are the key factors in the decision-making process of large cut slope restoration projects. And it has been found the suitability of the cut-and-cover tunnels despite their higher cost and complexity of its construction.

Land in balance: The scientific conceptual framework for Land Degradation Neutrality

The health and productivity of global land resources are declining, while demand for those resources is increasing. The aim of land degradation neutrality (LDN) is to maintain or enhance land-based natural capital and its associated ecosystem services. The Scientific Conceptual Framework for Land Degradation Neutrality has been developed to provide a scientific approach to planning, implementing and monitoring LDN. The Science-Policy Interface of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) led the development of the conceptual framework, drawing in expertise from a diverse range of disciplines.The LDN conceptual framework focuses on the supporting processes required to deliver LDN, including biophysical and socio-economic aspects, and their interactions. Neutrality implies no net loss of the land-based natural capital relative to a reference state, or baseline. Planning for neutrality involves projecting the likely cumulative impacts of land use and land management decisions, then counterbalancing anticipated losses with measures to achieve equivalent gains. Counterbalancing should occur only within individual land types, distinguished by land potential, to ensure “like for like” exchanges. Actions to achieve LDN include sustainable land management (SLM) practices that avoid or reduce degradation, coupled with efforts to reverse degradation through restoration or rehabilitation of degraded land. The response hierarchy of Avoid>Reduce>Reverse land degradation articulates the priorities in planning LDN interventions. The implementation of LDN is managed at the landscape level through integrated land use planning, while achievement is assessed at national level.Monitoring LDN status involves quantifying the balance between the area of gains (significant positive changes in LDN indicators) and area of losses (significant negative changes in LDN indicators), within each land type across the landscape. The LDN indicators (and associated metrics) are land cover (physical land cover class), land productivity (net primary productivity, NPP) and carbon stocks (soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks).The LDN conceptual framework comprises five modules: A: Vision of LDN describes the intended outcome of LDN; B: Frame of Reference clarifies the LDN baseline; C: Mechanism for Neutrality explains the counterbalancing mechanism; D: Achieving Neutrality presents the theory of change (logic model) articulating the impact pathway; and E: Monitoring Neutrality presents the LDN indicators. Principles that govern application of the framework provide flexibility while reducing risk of unintended outcomes.

The tilling of land in a changing climate: Empirical evidence from the Nile Basin of Ethiopia

Empirical studies point to reduced tillage as a means to increase yields and reverse land degradation. A relatively neglected avenue of research concerns why farmers increase tillage frequencies. Using household-plot level panel data from the Nile Basin of Ethiopia, this article applies a random effects ordered probit endogenous switching regression model to empirically investigate the impact of weather events and other conditioning factors on farmers’ choice of tillage intensity and the effect of changing tillage frequencies on differences in farm returns. Results indicate that, while low frequency tillage is more likely in drier areas, plot-level shocks (such as pests and diseases) are key variables in the choice of high-frequency tillage. Adoption of a low-till approach leads to increasing farm returns in low-moisture areas but high-frequency tillage provides higher returns in high-rainfall areas. Understanding how farmers’ tillage options correlate with climatic conditions and farm economies is salient for developing effective adaptation and mitigation plans.

Reversing land degradation through grasses: a systematic meta-analysis in the Indian tropics

Abstract. Although intensive agriculture is necessary to sustain the world's growing population, accelerated soil erosion contributes to a decrease in the environmental health of ecosystems at local, regional and global scales. Reversing the process of land degradation using vegetative measures is of utmost importance in such ecosystems. The present study critically analyzes the effect of grasses in reversing the process of land degradation using a systematic review. The collected information was segregated under three different land use and land management situations. Meta-analysis was applied to test the hypothesis that the use of grasses reduces runoff and soil erosion. The effect of grasses was deduced for grass strip and in combination with physical structures. Similarly, the effects of grasses were analyzed in degraded pasture lands. The overall result of the meta-analysis showed that infiltration capacity increased approximately 2-fold after planting grasses across the slopes in agricultural fields. Grazing land management through a cut-and-carry system increased conservation efficiencies by 42 and 63 % with respect to reduction in runoff and erosion, respectively. Considering the comprehensive performance index (CPI), it has been observed that hybrid Napier (Pennisetum purpureum) and sambuta (Saccharum munja) grass seem to posses the most desirable attributes as an effective grass barrier for the western Himalayas and Eastern Ghats, while natural grass (Dichanthium annulatum) and broom grass (Thysanolaena maxima) are found to be most promising grass species for the Konkan region of the Western Ghats and the northeastern Himalayan region, respectively. In addition to these benefits, it was also observed that soil carbon loss can be reduced by 83 % with the use of grasses. Overall, efficacy for erosion control of various grasses was more than 60 %; hence, their selection should be based on the production potential of these grasses under given edaphic and agro-ecological conditions. The present analysis also indicated that grass must be used as a vegetative strip to maintain soil quality in sloppy arable areas (8.5 Mha) of Indian hilly regions. Similarly, due attention should be paid for establishing grasses in 3 Mha of degraded pasture lands and 3.5 Mha of shifting cultivation areas in India to reverse the land degradation.