UNDP’s support to countries on sustainable land management and restoration is designed to enhance livelihoods, secure food and water, build resilience and increase carbon storage and sequestration. Drawing on over 40 years of experience and expertise, UNDP assists countries to integrate land and related environmental concerns into national and sectoral development plans and strategies, secure resources, and implement programmes that advance inclusive, sustainable growth and development. This work supports governments to implement Multilateral Environmental Agreements and achieve their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The innovative aspect of LDN, that differentiates it from previous efforts to tackle land degradation, is the adoption of neutrality as the goal. This is achieved through the adoption of measures to avoid or reduce land degradation, combined with measures to reverse past degradation. The objective is to balance anticipated losses in land resources with measures that produce alternative gains through approaches such as sustainable land management and land restoration.