Desertification is defined as land degradation occurring in the global drylands. It is one of the global problems targeted under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 15). The aim of this article is to review the history of desertification and to evaluate the scientific evidence for desertification spread and severity. First quantitative estimates of the global extent and severity of desertification were dramatic and resulted in the establishment of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in 1994. UNCCD’s task is to mitigate the negative impacts of desertification in drylands.

El siguiente documento detalla el proceso institucional llevado adelante en la República Argentina para establecer las metas voluntarias de Neutralidad de la Degradación de la Tierra a escala nacional. La Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas aprobó, en septiembre de 2015, la “Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible” que define 17 objetivos de desarrollo sostenible (ODS) y una serie de metas entre las que se destaca la meta 15.3 que involucra la neutralidad de la degradación de la tierra (NDT).

Pastoralism faces diverse challenges, that include, among others, land tenure insecurity, that has necessitated the need to formalize land rights. Some governments have started regularizing rights for privately owned land, but this is complex to implement in pastoral areas where resources are used and managed collectively. Our aim was to assess how the scale of communal land tenure recognition in pastoralist systems may affect tradeoffs among objectives such as tenure security, flexibility, mobility, and reduction of conflicts.

We measure the eco-efficiency (EE) of agricultural production in regard to soil erosion and decompose it into technical efficiency (TE) and soil conservation efficiency (SCE). Data Envelopment Analysis is applied to a

La désertification est une dégradation progressive des sols dans les zones sèches, affectant leur potentiel de productivité biologique et économique. Aujourd’hui, plus de 3,2 milliards de personnes dans le monde vivent sur environ 2 milliards d’hectares de terres dégradées. Par ailleurs, 500 millions de personnes habitent dans des zones déjà touchées par la désertification. Ce phénomène, s’amplifiant et touchant aujourd’hui tous les continents, représente un réel danger pour la santé humaine, la biodiversité, le climat, la sécurité alimentaire, la stabilité et la sécurité.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015 include a target on land degradation neutrality (LDN) (SDG 15.3). Attaining and maintaining LDN requires addressing a land governance challenge to steer land management towards avoiding, reducing and reversing land degradation.

A new Model Land Use Bill is proposed to address the lapses identified in the Nigerian Land Use Act (LUA, 1978), such as poor administrative system for lands, ownership, and the absence of community participation. This policy brief promotes a new land management structure for ease of business, to improve social and environmental protection, and to reduce land-grabbing by dispossession. The impact of land grabbing is one of many problems of social and environmental degradation, biodiversity loss and livelihoods impacted by deforestation.

Deforestation, land degradation, and unsustainable land management threaten our lives and are responsible, both directly and indirectly, for many economic, social and environmental issues. In particular, countries in Northeast Asia face the growing threats of desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD). In China, it is estimated that “more than 40 per cent of Chinese arable land is degraded” (China Daily 2014). “The annual cost of land degradation in Mongolia is estimated at 2.1 billion United States dollars (USD)” (UNCCD, 2018).

The extensive arable land and great biodiversity present in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have the potential to ensure sustenance and a good quality of life for its more than 600 million inhabitants. LAC has experienced important changes in land use. When the Europeans arrived in the 15th century, the forest cover of LAC accounted for approximately 75 per cent of the territory.

By declaring the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the UN has recognized that there are only 10 years left to restore the world's degraded land. Countries are striving to fight climate change by 2030 through their Paris Agreement commitments and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But in many cases, their climate and development agenda are disconnected, even though sustainability and development go hand in hand – especially for rural communities. The divide is particularly severe when it comes to restoring degraded land.

Shaping an enabling environment for Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) calls for integrated land use planning, inclusive and environmentally sound land access and governance, major reconfigurations of current institutional settings, financial backing, and ongoing dialogue between policy-makers, practitioners, and the scientific community.

Land Degradation Neutrality is a new way of approaching land degradation that acknowledges that land and land-based ecosystems are affected by global environmental change as well as by local land use practices. Achieving the target of a land degradation neutral world encourages adaptive management during planning, implementation, and monitoring of LDN-related activities and follows the LDN response hierarchy of avoiding, reducing, and reversing land degradation.