Desertification and land degradation (DLD) are considered major global change issues.
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 15 (SDG 15) contends that “desertification affects as much as one-sixth of the world’s population, seventy percent of all drylands, and one-quarter of the total land area of the world.” Consequently, DLD is a vital societal concern because of its impacts on human populations (e.g., food security and economics) and environment quality (e.g., dust storms, soil erosion, and nutrient depletion). Similar to climate change and biodiversity, DLD is the subject of an international framework convention, The Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD), the aim of which is to “target poverty, drought and food insecurity in dryland countries experiencing desertification, particularly those in Africa.”

While CCD was established by the United Nations “in order to facilitate the role of national governments in enacting policies to combat DLD,” progress has been hindered by many obstacles and challenges. This book by Professors Ajai and Bhatnagar provides the reader with an admirable overview of the many facets of DLD that constitute these
obstacles and challenges, including: How will land change occur worldwide over the next several decades? What will be the main drivers? What will be the environmental and social impacts? What areas are the most vulnerable to DLD? Can suitable indicators be established to monitor change? What global initiatives exist for combating DLD? Can land
degradation neutrality be achieved? What kind of land and soil restoration projects yield the most benefits?

This book examines many of the conceptual, methodological and technological advances that have been made during the past several decades to aid in developing appropriate strategies for combating DLD. DLD is shown to have numerous underlying causes, which involve a complex interplay among biophysical and social–economic variables. There is
an emphasis on the need to address all socioeconomic levels (local, regional, national, international) in the development of effective DLD policy decisions, as well as the role of integrated research programs that help define causal links, from climate dynamics to ecological impacts to policy response strategies. Of course, the challenges are enormous but so is the need for urgent action to understand and manage desertification and land degradation worldwide.