All publications and documents

The Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM) was developed by IUCN and the World Resources Institute (WRI) to assist countries in identifying opportunities for forest landscape restoration (FLR), analysing priority areas at a national or sub-national level, and designing and implementing FLR interventions. As part of IUCN’s effort to update the methodology, these guidelines have…

Secure tenure rights and control over land for women and men farmers are key to boosting smallholder productivity, rural development and food security. However, in many parts of the world, men and women have inadequate access to secure property rights over land. Women are particularly disadvantaged: even though they constitute on average 43 percent of the agricultural labour force in…

The land “footprint” of energy supply and use, referred to in SDG 15, is of particular interest. Currently, approximately 90 percent of global energy demand is met from non-renewable energy (mainly fossil), which leaves its footprint on land through resource extraction (e.g., coal mining), conversion (e.g., refineries, power plants) and their respective infrastructure (e.g., pipelines, fuel…

Economics is the mother tongue of public policy. It dominates our decision-making for the future, guides multi-billion-dollar investments, and shapes our responses to climate change, inequality, and other environmental and social challenges that define our times. Pity then, or more like disaster, that its fundamental ideas are centuries out of date yet are still taught in college…

The Scientific Conceptual Framework for Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) provides a scientific foundation for understanding, implementing and monitoring LDN. It has been designed to create a bridge between the vision and the practical implementation of LDN, by defining LDN in operational terms. The conceptual framework is a product of the UNCCD Science-Policy Interface. Pursuit of…

Poor rural women in developing countries are critical to the survival of their families. Fertile land is their lifeline. But the number of people negatively affected by land degradation is growing rapidly. Crop failures, water scarcity and the migration of traditional crops are damaging rural livelihoods. Action to halt the loss of more fertile land must focus on households. At this level, land…