Land degradation threatens livelihoods with the potential to displace vulnerable groups, yet its impacts on migration are poorly understood as environmental migration research mainly focuses on the impacts of climate change on migration. We argue that addressing this gap is vital as land degradation poses risks for sustainability.

Land degradation can fuel migration and displacement in low- and middle-income countries2. However, to what extent and how land degradation affects migration remains poorly understood. Researchers have identified the growing importance of environmental migration, which accounts for the diversity of population movements due to all types of environmental drivers4. In particular, the influence of climate change on migration has been intensively studied over the past two decades5. Key findings suggest that climate-related migration is multi-causal and context specific, and opportunities for migration can differ substantially between people6,7. Environmental migration outcomes range from voluntary migration to involuntary displacement and cover various forms of immobility, including so-called trapped populations8. Despite the scientific and political spotlight on climate change as an environmental driver of migration, the role of land degradation as a threat multiplier has been largely ignored in environmental migration research9,10. The few empirical studies that address land degradation and migration relationships yield contradictory conclusions, resulting from differences in geographic contexts, in manifestations and measurement of land degradation, and the temporal and spatial scales of analysis11,12,13,14,15. Consequently, robust evidence on how land degradation affects the intensity and patterns of migration is lacking9,10,16. This significant research gap needs to be addressed, given that land degradation is continuing and expected to increase, generating new risks for the affected populations.