Land provides crucial ecosystem services for human existence and human well-being, including provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural services. Those services provide among others the production of fresh air, food, feed, fuel and fibre. They regulate the risks of natural hazards and climate change, offer cultural and spiritual values to our society, and support key ecological functions such as nutrient and water cycling, filtering and buffering, and are central to economic vitality. However, Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought (DLDD) as well as climate change can negatively affect the provision of these ecosystem services with potentially severe implications for food security, livelihoods, and human well-being.

This Policy Brief provides scientifically-sound guidance for decision makers to help develop SLM strategies and related policies that promote synergies and address trade-offs between multiple objectives related to DLDD, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and for creating an enabling environment to overcome possible barriers for selection and large-scale implementation of effective SLM practices considering local realities.