The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) remains the only ‘Rio Convention’ that is not well served by the scientific community and lacks the equivalent of an IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) or the proposed IPBES (Intergovernmental Science–Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services).

Sigificant dependence from climate and anthropogenic influences characterize ecological systems of Kazakhstan. As result of the geographical location of the republic and ecological situation vegetative degradation sites exist throughout the territory of Kazakhstan. The major process of desertification takes place in the arid and semi-arid areas. To allocate spots of stable degradation of vegetation, the transition zone was first identified. Productivity of vegetation in transfer zone is slightly dependent on climate conditions.

Driven principally by government regulation and societal expectations, mining companies around the world are seeking to mitigate the environmental impacts of mining through mined land rehabilitation programs. The ultimate goal of rehabilitation is to establish an acceptable and sustainable post-mining land use. Mining companies worldwide face the challenge of specifying just what a sustainable post-mining land use will be.

This study addressed long-term land degradation and regeneration effects on soil organic carbon (SOC) composition. This was done in a context of secondary succession following land abandonment in the Mediterranean region of SE Spain. The effects of land use change and soil erosion on SOC composition were studied by using lignin as a biomarker. To get insight into the evolution of SOC composition along a land use and topographical gradient, differences in lignin contribution to SOC were determined at different soil depths (0–0.1m, 0.1–0.2m, 0.2–0.3m).

Historical domestic livestock grazing in sensitive landscapes has commonly been regarded as a major cause of land degradation in Iceland. Shieling areas, where milking livestock were taken to pasture for the summer, represented one element of grazing management and in this paper we consider the extent to which historical shieling-based grazing pressure contributed to land degradation.

People in southern Africa are facing escalating levels of risk, uncertainty and consequently vulnerability as a result of multiple interacting stressors, including HIV/AIDS, poverty, food insecurity, weak governance, climate change and land degradation, to name but a few. Vulnerability or livelihood insecurity emerges when poor people as individuals or social units have to face harmful threats or shocks with inadequate capacity to respond effectively. In such situations, people often have no choice but to turn to their immediate environment for support.

In Cameroon and elsewhere in the Congo Basin, the majority of rural households and a large proportion of urban households depend on plant and animal products from the forests to meet their nutritional, energy, cultural and medicinal needs. This paper explores the likely impacts of climate-induced changes on the provisioning of forest ecosystem goods and services and its effect on the economic and social well-being of the society, including the national economy and the livelihoods of forest-dependent people.

Terrace soils are distinctive features of the agricultural landscape in Europe. Due to their historical and aesthetic significance, they are a resource for agriculture and tourism: however they are also a challenge for land conservation and management. Nevertheless, the fundamental role of terrace soils for agricultural quality and natural hazard prevention has not been fully investigated. In the past, terraced slopes became ideal sites for human settlement and agricultural activities.

In this paper, it is shown how a system can be created by using methods of Artificial Intelligence, designated (a) to provide the user with information about the transformations of Mediterranean-type landscapes in an interactive way, (b) to allow the modelling of causes and effects of landscape transformations (such as land degradation) and (c) to forecast future landscape changes. The system consists of programs, which run independently. Each module performs a certain task only and contributes to the modelling of landscape transformations in a different way.

Whether people like it or not, landscapes change. Accepting this and understanding processes of landscape change are prerequisites for the maintenance and development of specific landscape- or ‘natural’ values. This paper discusses the relevance of landscape historical information and insights to the management of landscape change. The focus is on the Netherlands, especially the Pleistocene inland part of the country and on the period 1000BP - present.

The mountains of northern Vietnam have lost significant forest cover during the last decades due to the conversion from natural vegetation to cultivated land, leading to the depletion of soil organic matter and land degradation. The study evaluated bamboo as an alternative cropping strategy in the northern central upland of Vietnam. We analyzed above-ground carbon fixing capacity of bamboo, accumulation of soil organic carbon, and socio-economic aspects as compared to other land use systems.

In 2012, the Mexican Presidency of the G20 introduced inclusive green growth as a cross-cutting priority on the G20 development agenda. The second meeting of the G20 Development Working Group (DWG), hosted by the Government of the Republic of Korea, took place in Seoul the 19th and 20th of March 2012. As agreed during the first DWG meeting, this second meeting focused on the priorities for their presidency in the first half of 2012: infrastructure, food security and inclusive green growth (IGG).