Environment
Land degradation
The reduction or loss of the biological or economic productivity of land, caused by human land use and exacerbated by climate change.
Definition
Land degradation is the reduction or loss of the biological or economic productivity and complexity of rainfed and irrigated cropland, rangeland, pasture, forest and woodland, resulting from land uses or from processes including soil erosion, deterioration of soil properties and long-term loss of natural vegetation. In arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, land degradation is termed desertification (UNCCD).
References
Overview
What it means
Degradation is driven by agriculture and land-use change, overgrazing, deforestation, nutrient depletion, inappropriate irrigation, agrochemical overuse, urban sprawl, pollution and mining, intensified by climate change.
Estimates cited by UNCCD-linked sources indicate roughly a quarter of global land is degraded, with economic losses estimated at around US$300 billion per year and ecosystem-service losses far higher; the IPCC links it to the livelihoods of between 1. 3 and 3. 2 billion people.
How it is used
The UNCCD definition anchors international policy, SDG indicator 15. 3. 1 (proportion of degraded land), national reporting, and restoration programmes such as Land Degradation Neutrality target setting.
Why it matters
Land underpins food, water and climate security; its degradation is a direct threat to livelihoods, especially of the rural poor, and to biodiversity and carbon storage.
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