The assessment of land degradation and restoration by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services shows that land degradation across the globe is a wide and severe issue and is showing no signs of slowing down. This trend must be halted and reversed.

Restoring the health of the land The United Nations (UN) has announced 2021 as the start of the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Find out ten strategies to overcome the five systemic policy barriers, and thus transform the effectiveness of land protection and restoration.

Prerequisites for credible information needed to guide effective decision making are the open sharing of data and libraries of proven land protection and restoration practices. Institutions at several scales, working closely with each other and with policy makers and land stewards, must develop standards, undertake systematic monitoring and facilitate access to data and tools. The successful example of the climate change community in defining and sharing ‘essential climate variables’ should be followed.

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