Global Land Outlook 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The pressures on global land resources are greater than at any other time in human history. A rapidly increasing population, coupled with rising levels of consumption, is placing ever-larger demands on our land-based natural capital. This results in growing competition…
FLAGSHIP REPORT
The evidence presented in this first edition of the Global Land Outlook demonstrates that informed and responsible decision-making, along with simple changes in our everyday lives, can if widely adopted help to reverse the current worrying trends in the state of our…
Working papers
This paper represents a contribution to the Global Land Outlook in terms of discussing the complex dimensions of land and water resources management. Per the Terms of Reference for its production, the paper explains complex interactions between land and water resources…
This paper identifies and compares the land impact of all terrestrial energy forms. It also focuses on the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the use and supply of energy, as well as the maintenance and enhancement of terrestrial carbon sinks that are…
This paper will discuss emerging trends in gender dimensions of land degradation, making an argument for the importance of taking gender roles into account when making policies and laws to promote land degradation neutrality. Women comprise 43% of the world’s…
Integrated landscape management (ILM) has emerged as an innovative approach to land management that reduces land use conflicts, empowers communities, and achieves development objectives at the landscape scale. ILM is built on the principles of participation,…
This working paper explores how land tenure systems in different ecosystems and bio-cultural regions around the world are linked to land degradation or sustainable land management. It is against this backdrop that five major issues surrounding land tenure, and rights…
This working paper analyzes the role of land use and spatial planning tools, processes and approaches to improve socio-economic opportunities through sustainable management of land resources (i.e., soil, water, and biodiversity). Section 1 explores the nexus between…
The agrifood business (production, processing, transportation, and commercialization to final consumers) has changed dramatically in the last fifty years. Rather than being carried out via linear supply chains, agrifood business is now conducted in complex networks…
This report provides a detailed analysis of how migration is connected to land ownership, land use change, and land degradation. It begins with an overview of general migration theories, and then quickly focuses on how environmental factors influence migration. After…
Soils play a critical role in delivering ecosystem services. Healthy soils are a basic prerequisite to meeting varied needs for food, biomass (energy), fiber, fodder, and other products, and to ensuring the provision of essential ecosystem services in all regions of…
The state of the environment, taken as a complex whole, fundamentally impacts the stability of human societies; it can enable or hinder peace and security through composite and interconnected dynamics. Most often, land acts as the catalyzing element. The security…
Protected areas (PA) are critical tools in maintaining biodiversity and, if well managed, are proven to be effective for both conservation and maintaining the ecosystem services on which human livelihoods and welfare depend. The modern protected area system was…
This working paper examines the role of rural-urban linkages in the context of sustainable development and environmental protection, analyzing how harnessing linkages between urban and rural areas can potentially reduce spatial disparities. Emphasis is placed on…
To achieve the ambitious goals of alleviating poverty, securing food and water supplies, and protecting the natural resource base, we need to recognize the inter-connectedness of the factors driving land degradation, so that solutions can be taken to scale,…
The words of Alison Anderson, Papunya elder and recently retired Australian politician, resonate. They resonate with all indigenous peoples whose relationship with their land is often more profoundly intimate than that of Western or eurocentric societies, and they…
Although the name “drylands” can diminish people’s appreciation of them, under different guises this land is often well-known and valued. Few doubt the importance to biodiversity of the world’s savannahs for example, or the value of fine fibers such as cashmere and…
The annual costs of land degradation are thought to be in the order of 10-17% of global gross domestic product. The very high costs of land degradation makes large-scale ecological restoration a global imperative. This paper documents the areas wherein, and manners…
Associated reports
Land is a major overarching theme connecting the three Rio Conventions covering climate change (UNFCCC), biodiversity (CBD), and desertification and land degradation (UNCCD). Land management plays a key role in attaining their goals and targets. Furthermore, a large…
While the first picture of Earth from deep space invoked awe and wonder, they also graphically revealed the startling reality of the finite and stark boundaries in which humanity exists. Whitin these boundaries, the Earth has entered the age of Anthropocene, where…