Restoring vegetation in low rainfall areas is difficult and urges the need to design an effective and low-cost method of vegetation restoration. This study was undertaken in the lowlands of northern Ethiopia to: (1) investigate how exclosure age affects restoration of degraded native plant species richness, diversity and aboveground standing biomass, and (2) identify soil characteristics, which affect effectiveness of exclosures to restore degraded native vegetation.

Peru has the fourth largest area of peatlands in the Tropics. Its most representative land cover on peat is a Mauritia flexuosa dominated palm swamp (thereafter called dense PS), which has been under human pressure over decades due to the high demand for the M. flexuosa fruit often collected by cutting down the entire palm. Degradation of these carbon dense forests can substantially affect emissions of greenhouse gases and contribute to climate change. The first objective of this research was to assess the impact of dense PS degradation on forest structure and biomass carbon stocks.

The Northern Uplands of Vietnam form one of the largest ecological regions in the country, characterized by complex biophysical conditions and a high diversity in ethnic minorities, cultures, and farming systems. The Doi moi ("renovation?) program has, since the early 1980s, resulted in significant changes in agriculture production and related economic trends. However, poverty, low agricultural productivity, and land degradation are still major problems.

Responding to the immediate challenge of how we sustainably intensify the production of food, fuel and fiber to meet future demand without the further degradation of our finite land resource base, Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), which emerged from the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in 2012, is a potential target to address this challenge.

The  twelfth  session  of  the  Conference  of  the  Parties  of   the   UNCCD   (COP   12)   agreed   to   integrate   the   sustainable development goals (SDGs) and target 15.3 on  Land  Degradation  Neutrality  (LDN)  in  particular,  into  the  implementation  of  the  Convention,  stating