All publications and documents

The Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) methodology (originally proposed in the framework of MEDALUS ‐ Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use ‐ a series of international cooperation research projects funded by the EU) is used worldwide to identify ‘sensitive areas' that are potentially threatened by land degradation and desertification. The distinctive outcome of this approach…

Almost 65% of the population in the Sahel is under 25, and there are few opportunities for young people. How will you tackle poverty and stop the youth from being attracted to groups engaged in terrorist activities? The Sahel population is young, which is a challenge, but it is also an opportunity. Young people are energetic, dynamic and ready to promote development. Youth in the region are…

Vast, valuable amounts of energy, essential agricultural nutrients, and water could be recovered from the world’s fast-growing volume of municipal wastewater, says the United Nations University. A newly-published study reveals a staggering 380 billion cubic meters (m3 = 1000 litres) of wastewater are produced worldwide each year — five times the volume of water passing over Niagara…

Soil erosion is a major threat to food security and ecosystem viability, as current rates are orders of magnitude higher than natural soil formation. Governments around the world are trying to address the issue of soil erosion. However, we do not know whether countries have much actual control over their soil erosion. Here, we use a high-resolution, global dataset with over 35 million…

Competition for land resources is intense, with growing demand for food and resources to support humanity. Despite this, global agricultural area has significantly declined over the past two decades due to socio–political trends, market changes and environmental degradation. Although expensive, restoring degraded lands that are no longer contested for agricultural use due to low productivity may…

The Paris Agreement introduced an ambitious goal of limiting warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. Here the authors combine a review of modelled pathways and literature on mitigation strategies, and develop a land-sector roadmap of priority measures and regions that can help to achieve the 1.5 °C temperature goal. Transforming the land sector and deploying measures in…