Land is the foundation for all life-sustaining processes on Earth. Land supports the vast proportion of Earth’s biodiversity
and, through its physical, chemical, and biological attributes, underpins a wide range of ecosystem goods and services
that humanity depends on for survival. This includes provisioning services such as food and water; regulating services
such as regulation of floods and drought; supporting services such as soil formation and nutrient cycling; and cultural services such as recreational, spiritual, and other nonmaterial benefits. Land use in agriculture and forestry plays an important role in global prosperity, benefiting billions of people including a large number who depend entirely on farming and forest products for their livelihood. An estimated 40 percent of the global land surface is made up of agricultural land, and agricultural lands account for 95 percent of all animal and plant protein and 99 percent of calories consumed by people. Because of its vital importance to humanity, sustained and productive use of land is a global imperative.