Life on Earth depends on healthy soils. The soil under our feet is a living system – home to many fascinating plants and animals, whose invisible interactions ensure our well-being and that of the planet. Soils provide us with nutritious food and other products as well as with clean water and flourishing habitats for biodiversity. At the same time, soils can help slow the onset of climate change and make us more resilient to extreme climate events such as droughts and floods. Soils preserve our cultural heritage and are a key part of the landscapes that we all cherish.

This study develops options for the German government to improve international soil governance in the short, medium and long term. The study first takes stock of existing international instruments and institutions that are relevant for soil protection and its governance at the international level. It as-sesses the actual and potential steering effect of, inter alia, the Desertification Convention, the Biodiversity Convention, the Paris Agreement and climate regime, regional treaties, FAO, UNEP, IPBES and IPCC.

Land use change is a major global driver of pandemic risk. Land usechange is a significant driver of the transmission and emergence of infectious diseases 40,177-179. Land use changeis cited as the cause of over 30% of emerging infectious diseases, and correlates significantly withthe emergence of novel zoonoses globally 13,180. However, the mechanisms by which diseases emergeare context-specific and scale-dependent.

The study examined women’s roles and gender gaps in land operation and farming, labor arrangements in agriculture and water management, and feminization of agriculture in the Lower Vaksh River Basin in Tajikistan.

The agricultural sector is a cornerstone of Lao PDR’s development strategy, employing over 70 percent of the population. However, agriculture is contributing only 16 percent of the country’s GDP due to factors including low productivity and lack of modernization, among other issues. To unlock the potential of agriculture to end poverty and hunger by 2030 and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals there is a need for more and better investment in agriculture.

Insects, the most diverse and abundant animal species on the planet, are critical in providing numerous ecosystem services which are significant to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs). In addition to the UN-SDGs, the UN has declared the period 2021–2030 as the “Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.” Insects, because of the ecosystem services they provide, are critical indicators of restoration success.

Monitoring of irrigated land cover is important for both resource managers and farmers. An operational approach is presented to use the satellite-derived surface temperature and vegetation cover in order to distinguish between irrigated and non-irrigated land. Using an iterative thresholding procedure to minimize within-class variance, the bilevel segmentation of surface temperature and vegetation cover was achieved for each irrigation period (Spring, Summer and Autumn).

La terre a toujours été un bien très contesté. Le contrôle des terres et des ressources liées reflète les relations de pouvoir d’une région, d’un pays et constitue un indicateur des injustices sociales existantes. En même temps, ces ressources sont centrales dans la question des droits, des moyens d’existence et de l’identité de petits producteurs alimentaires. Depuis le début, elles ont été au cœur du mouvement pour la souveraineté alimentaire. Ce numéro de la Nyéléni Newsletter est la seconde édition de cette année consacrée au thème de la terre.

L’aménagement foncier agricole, forestier et environnemental, jadis dénommé remembrement, est un mode d’aménagement du territoire ayant pour objet la restructuration foncière. Il vise la constitution d’unités de production d’un seul tenant ou à grandes parcelles, pour améliorer l’exploitation des propriétés, assurer la mise en valeur des espaces naturels ruraux et contribuer à l’aménagement du territoire communal ou intercommunal. Impliquant de nombreux acteurs, il trouve son origine au XVIIIème siècle et n’a cessé d’évoluer depuis.

The conciliation between different issues such as agriculture production, biodiversity conservation and water management remains unsolved in many places in the world. As a striking example, the wet grasslands of the Marais Poitevin region (France) presents many obstacles against the integration of these issues, especially in terms of public policy design.

From its origins, the concept of desertification has been controversial. The prevailing confusion between two desertification visions, one that considers it as the expansion of deserts and another that emphasizes its anthropogenic component, has been transferred to society.