Land degradation and climate change
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) the benefits of sustainable land management in the drylands, are numerous.
Here is a list of some of them, as stated by the IUCN-Issues Brief:
- The world’s soils store more carbon than the planet’s biomass and atmosphere combined.
- An increase of just 1% of the carbon stocks in the top metre of soils would be higher than the amount corresponding to the annual anthropogenic CO2 emissions from fossil fuel burning.
- Many innovations in sustainable land management are now known and recognised for their multiple environmental, social and economic benefits.
- Sustainable land management can be mainstreamed in national development and conservation planning based on existing commitments under the Sustainable Development Goals and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
- Urgent improvements are needed to monitor soil organic carbon and increase awareness of, and capacity to pursue, the many opportunities of sustainable land management.
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SOURCE: IUCN
