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.

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are continuously under the threat from the adverse effects of climate change and land degradation impacts. Erratic climatic patterns have made daily weather previsions unreliable and are becoming a challenge for communities to take appropriate timely and preventive measures. Land degradation directly increases CO2 emissions, contributing to climate change and vice versa.

Many Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have committed to establishing national voluntary LDN targets. By establishing LDN targets, SIDS have defined their ambitions and key priorities to address land degradation. The LDN target setting process allowed national stakeholders to systematically analyze the causes and effects of land degradation and to come up with evidence-based decisions on what is desirable and feasible to avoid, reduce or reverse land degradation by 2030.

Land is the foundation for all life on Earth. How land is used and managed influences nature, food, water, energy, climate, and even our health. Today, the pressures on land and the wealth of resources it provides are greater than at any other time in human history.

At the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Summit on 25-26 September 2015, world leaders adopted the global framework ‘Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’, which included 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets. The 2030 Agenda builds on the Millennium Development Goals and aims to eradicate poverty, leaving no one behind, and to shift the world on to a sustainable and resilient path.

Established in 1994, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management. The Convention addresses specifically the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, known as the drylands, where some of the most vulnerable ecosystems and peoples can be found.

Land lies at the very foundation of our society and social life; it plays a central role in the livelihoods and cultural identities of communities across the globe, and contains the resources that underpin our now globalised world. However, partly because of this, it is often at the heart of social and political conflicts. Increasing demand for food, energy and other primary products is driving agribusinesses, mining companies and speculative investors in a quest for new land to acquire and exploit.

يتناول هذا الدليل التقني، الذي اشتركت في إعداده أمانتا منظمة الأمم المتحدة للأغذية والزراعة (الفاو) واتفاقية الأمم المتحدة لمكافحة التصحر، بمساهمات من أصحاب المصلحة المتعددين، إدماج المبادئ التوجيهية الطوعية بشأن الإدارة المسؤولة لحيازة الأراضي ومصائد الأسماك والغابات في سياق الأمن الغذائي الوطني في تنفيذ اتفاقية الأمم المتحدة لمكافحة التصحر وتحييد أثر تدهور الأراضي. وبالتالي فتح فصل جديد في الجهود الجارية لمكافحة التصحر وتدهور الأراضي والجفاف.

Successive surveys related to land degradation in India, reveal that despite several announcements and policy changes, the desertification and degradation of land and forest continues to rise. It has posed serious threats to environment, biodiversity, local economy and food security. Globally and nationally, India has been very vocal to address this issue.

Achieving change to address soil erosion has been a global yet elusive goal for decades. Efforts to implement effective solutions have often fallen short due to a lack of sustained, context-appropriate and multi-disciplinary engagement with the problem.

Climate change increasingly affects agricultural systems, making it necessary for farmers to adapt to changing climatic conditions. An important element shaping farmers’ adaptation decisions and their vulnerability is their respective land tenure system. Especially land tenure security can strongly influence farmers’ incentives for adapting to climate change.

In September 2015, the global community agreed on “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, including 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and 169 targets. Goal 15 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”.