A topical note presenting the context and the concept of neutrality with regard to land degradation
A known emergency : Land degradation is a worldwide problem, with both global and local impacts upon agricultural productivity, climate change, biodiversity and the functioning and rendering of ecosystem services. To address the land degradation issue inevitably requires that all aspects of sustainable development1 be considered, and this is a complex approach still too rarely handled as such, be it in scientific efforts or public policy decisions. Article 1 of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) refers to land degradation, giving the convention the mandate to combat the phenomenon, albeit with a limitation of its field of competence to arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas corresponding to 44% of the Earth’s land surface.
Given current indicator trends – both in terms of current degradation and its consequences, and of future trends – sustainable land management has become urgent if food security is to be ensured as the world population increases, agricultural productivity stagnates, and the land surfaces available for agriculture shrink. However, what is most disturbing is the pressure exerted on the natural resources needed for agriculture and food, caused by declines in fertility, loss of biodiversity, land and water pollution, and gradually leading to progressive deterioration of our inherited natural food-growing resources. The emergency is therefore very real. And all the more so because this situation also comes with an assortment of international instabilities, particularly related to population displacements.
