Luc GNACADJA is the architect of the 'Land Degradation Neutrality' concept and the founder and President of the think-tank GPS-Dev (Governance and Policies for Sustainable Development)
Land has gained stature as a natural resource to be protected since the 2012 Rio+20 Summit. The d... more Land has gained stature as a natural resource to be protected since the 2012 Rio+20 Summit. The decision to " strive to achieve a land-degradation neutral world in the context of sustainable development " (United Nations 2012, p. 54), along with the understanding that " this should act to catalyze financial resources from a range of public and private sources, " served as the foundation for further discussions about land. In 2015, land was included in the 2030 agenda for sustainable development as target 15.3 of Sustainable Development Goal 15 (SDG 15). Land has been defined as a global strategic resource that is under stress due to rapidly growing demand for biomass production to accommodate increased food and energy consumption and population dynamics. More than half of the additional two billion people who will live on Earth by 2050 will be born in Africa. The population of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is predicted to grow from 900 million to about 1.4 billion by 2030. However, the region leads the world in poverty, hunger and food insecurity, youth unemployment, agricultural vulnerability to climate change, land degradation, resource-based conflicts, and migrations leading to economic, social, and political instability. Africa has the resources to respond to the exploding global demand for food, energy, and water. The region accounts for 60 % of the world's uncultivated arable land and more than one third (715 million ha) of the world's degraded land with potential for restoration. It is already a global hotspot for successful land restoration projects due to innovations in technology and social engineering, which mostly occur at a local level. The institutional aspects A contribution to the International Conference on Climate Change and Multi-Dimensional
In the UN Year of Soil, the Manifesto is a celebration of the Soil, our Land, our Territories. It... more In the UN Year of Soil, the Manifesto is a celebration of the Soil, our Land, our Territories. It is an invitation to remember that we are the Soil, that humus shapes humanity, and the destruction of the living soil closes our future. The Manifesto shows how critical issues and crises are interconnected and cannot be addressed in silos: soils, land and land grab, farming, climate change, unemployment, growing economic inequality, and growing violence and wars. Based on a transition from the current linear, extractive way of thinking to a circular approach based on reciprocal giving and taking, the Manifesto offers a new paradigm for a New Agriculture, a new Circular Economy which can sow the seeds of justice, dignity, sustainability, peace and a true New Democracy.
Women and Traditional Knowledge in Drylands Around the world more than two billion people live in... more Women and Traditional Knowledge in Drylands Around the world more than two billion people live in drylands ecosystems. Women often possess the traditional knowledge to maintain sustainable land management practices but their know-how is often disregarded and their words are too seldom heard. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) recognizes how vital the women's role is in these fragile regions and is supporting programmes at all levels to raise women's active participation in the implementation of the Convention.
This chapter provides concluding remarks for the book. It highlights that in the face of the comp... more This chapter provides concluding remarks for the book. It highlights that in the face of the complex challenges of sustainability, nothing connects humanity more fundamentally than the air we breathe and the soil we walk on, and that failure to value sufficiently the land and soils that support our lives has led to underestimating the essential role that soil plays in sustaining human security and in overall sustainability. The chapter recalls that the Caux Dialogue on Land and Security has been initiated in 2011 to further explore the understanding that our security depends on the extent to which we preserve our soils, because “enhancing soil anywhere enhances life everywhere and grounds security.” The chapter provides some recommendations on how to translate lessons learnt about land degradation and restoration processes into policy making and the improvement of institutions in charge of advancing land stewardship.
This special edition of the Journal of Arid Environments contains a series of articles taken from... more This special edition of the Journal of Arid Environments contains a series of articles taken from the many presentations and lectures offered at the fourth Drylands Deserts and Desertification "DDD" conference, held at Ben Gurion Univesity's Sede Boqer campus in November 2014. Cooperation between the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the academic community that considers issues related to land degradation and sustainability in the drylands has always been important.
Climate Change and Multi-Dimensional Sustainability in African Agriculture, 2016
Land has gained stature as a natural resource to be protected since the 2012 Rio+20 Summit. The d... more Land has gained stature as a natural resource to be protected since the 2012 Rio+20 Summit. The decision to “strive to achieve a land-degradation neutral world in the context of sustainable development” (United Nations 2012, p. 54), along with the understanding that “this should act to catalyze financial resources from a range of public and private sources,” served as the foundation for further discussions about land. In 2015, land was included in the 2030 agenda for sustainable development as target 15.3 of Sustainable Development Goal 15 (SDG 15). Land has been defined as a global strategic resource that is under stress due to rapidly growing demand for biomass production to accommodate increased food and energy consumption and population dynamics. More than half of the additional two billion people who will live on Earth by 2050 will be born in Africa. The population of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is predicted to grow from 900 million to about 1.4 billion by 2030. However, the region leads the world in poverty, hunger and food insecurity, youth unemployment, agricultural vulnerability to climate change, land degradation, resource-based conflicts, and migrations leading to economic, social, and political instability. Africa has the resources to respond to the exploding global demand for food, energy, and water. The region accounts for 60 % of the world’s uncultivated arable land and more than one third (715 million ha) of the world’s degraded land with potential for restoration. It is already a global hotspot for successful land restoration projects due to innovations in technology and social engineering, which mostly occur at a local level. The institutional aspects relating to the establishment, management and support of restoration projects, however, are one of the major obstacles to scaling up these projects. Achieving land degradation neutrality will be key for the economic, social, and environmental transformations SSA needs to accomplish, given the challenges and potentials of the region, such as climate change, population dynamics, and globalization.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
The 2021 Chair and the IUCN Coordinator of the Science Task Force of the UN Decade on Ecosystem R... more The 2021 Chair and the IUCN Coordinator of the Science Task Force of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration share their reflections on how science can contribute to achieving the Decade's objectives. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Understanding forest landscape restoration: reinforcing scientific foundations for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration’.
Land has gained stature as a natural resource to be protected since the 2012 Rio+20 Summit. The d... more Land has gained stature as a natural resource to be protected since the 2012 Rio+20 Summit. The decision to " strive to achieve a land-degradation neutral world in the context of sustainable development " (United Nations 2012, p. 54), along with the understanding that " this should act to catalyze financial resources from a range of public and private sources, " served as the foundation for further discussions about land. In 2015, land was included in the 2030 agenda for sustainable development as target 15.3 of Sustainable Development Goal 15 (SDG 15). Land has been defined as a global strategic resource that is under stress due to rapidly growing demand for biomass production to accommodate increased food and energy consumption and population dynamics. More than half of the additional two billion people who will live on Earth by 2050 will be born in Africa. The population of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is predicted to grow from 900 million to about 1.4 billion by ...
Land has gained stature as a natural resource to be protected since the 2012 Rio+20 Summit. The d... more Land has gained stature as a natural resource to be protected since the 2012 Rio+20 Summit. The decision to " strive to achieve a land-degradation neutral world in the context of sustainable development " (United Nations 2012, p. 54), along with the understanding that " this should act to catalyze financial resources from a range of public and private sources, " served as the foundation for further discussions about land. In 2015, land was included in the 2030 agenda for sustainable development as target 15.3 of Sustainable Development Goal 15 (SDG 15). Land has been defined as a global strategic resource that is under stress due to rapidly growing demand for biomass production to accommodate increased food and energy consumption and population dynamics. More than half of the additional two billion people who will live on Earth by 2050 will be born in Africa. The population of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is predicted to grow from 900 million to about 1.4 billion by 2030. However, the region leads the world in poverty, hunger and food insecurity, youth unemployment, agricultural vulnerability to climate change, land degradation, resource-based conflicts, and migrations leading to economic, social, and political instability. Africa has the resources to respond to the exploding global demand for food, energy, and water. The region accounts for 60 % of the world's uncultivated arable land and more than one third (715 million ha) of the world's degraded land with potential for restoration. It is already a global hotspot for successful land restoration projects due to innovations in technology and social engineering, which mostly occur at a local level. The institutional aspects A contribution to the International Conference on Climate Change and Multi-Dimensional
In the UN Year of Soil, the Manifesto is a celebration of the Soil, our Land, our Territories. It... more In the UN Year of Soil, the Manifesto is a celebration of the Soil, our Land, our Territories. It is an invitation to remember that we are the Soil, that humus shapes humanity, and the destruction of the living soil closes our future. The Manifesto shows how critical issues and crises are interconnected and cannot be addressed in silos: soils, land and land grab, farming, climate change, unemployment, growing economic inequality, and growing violence and wars. Based on a transition from the current linear, extractive way of thinking to a circular approach based on reciprocal giving and taking, the Manifesto offers a new paradigm for a New Agriculture, a new Circular Economy which can sow the seeds of justice, dignity, sustainability, peace and a true New Democracy.
Women and Traditional Knowledge in Drylands Around the world more than two billion people live in... more Women and Traditional Knowledge in Drylands Around the world more than two billion people live in drylands ecosystems. Women often possess the traditional knowledge to maintain sustainable land management practices but their know-how is often disregarded and their words are too seldom heard. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) recognizes how vital the women's role is in these fragile regions and is supporting programmes at all levels to raise women's active participation in the implementation of the Convention.
This chapter provides concluding remarks for the book. It highlights that in the face of the comp... more This chapter provides concluding remarks for the book. It highlights that in the face of the complex challenges of sustainability, nothing connects humanity more fundamentally than the air we breathe and the soil we walk on, and that failure to value sufficiently the land and soils that support our lives has led to underestimating the essential role that soil plays in sustaining human security and in overall sustainability. The chapter recalls that the Caux Dialogue on Land and Security has been initiated in 2011 to further explore the understanding that our security depends on the extent to which we preserve our soils, because “enhancing soil anywhere enhances life everywhere and grounds security.” The chapter provides some recommendations on how to translate lessons learnt about land degradation and restoration processes into policy making and the improvement of institutions in charge of advancing land stewardship.
This special edition of the Journal of Arid Environments contains a series of articles taken from... more This special edition of the Journal of Arid Environments contains a series of articles taken from the many presentations and lectures offered at the fourth Drylands Deserts and Desertification "DDD" conference, held at Ben Gurion Univesity's Sede Boqer campus in November 2014. Cooperation between the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the academic community that considers issues related to land degradation and sustainability in the drylands has always been important.
Climate Change and Multi-Dimensional Sustainability in African Agriculture, 2016
Land has gained stature as a natural resource to be protected since the 2012 Rio+20 Summit. The d... more Land has gained stature as a natural resource to be protected since the 2012 Rio+20 Summit. The decision to “strive to achieve a land-degradation neutral world in the context of sustainable development” (United Nations 2012, p. 54), along with the understanding that “this should act to catalyze financial resources from a range of public and private sources,” served as the foundation for further discussions about land. In 2015, land was included in the 2030 agenda for sustainable development as target 15.3 of Sustainable Development Goal 15 (SDG 15). Land has been defined as a global strategic resource that is under stress due to rapidly growing demand for biomass production to accommodate increased food and energy consumption and population dynamics. More than half of the additional two billion people who will live on Earth by 2050 will be born in Africa. The population of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is predicted to grow from 900 million to about 1.4 billion by 2030. However, the region leads the world in poverty, hunger and food insecurity, youth unemployment, agricultural vulnerability to climate change, land degradation, resource-based conflicts, and migrations leading to economic, social, and political instability. Africa has the resources to respond to the exploding global demand for food, energy, and water. The region accounts for 60 % of the world’s uncultivated arable land and more than one third (715 million ha) of the world’s degraded land with potential for restoration. It is already a global hotspot for successful land restoration projects due to innovations in technology and social engineering, which mostly occur at a local level. The institutional aspects relating to the establishment, management and support of restoration projects, however, are one of the major obstacles to scaling up these projects. Achieving land degradation neutrality will be key for the economic, social, and environmental transformations SSA needs to accomplish, given the challenges and potentials of the region, such as climate change, population dynamics, and globalization.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
The 2021 Chair and the IUCN Coordinator of the Science Task Force of the UN Decade on Ecosystem R... more The 2021 Chair and the IUCN Coordinator of the Science Task Force of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration share their reflections on how science can contribute to achieving the Decade's objectives. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Understanding forest landscape restoration: reinforcing scientific foundations for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration’.
Land has gained stature as a natural resource to be protected since the 2012 Rio+20 Summit. The d... more Land has gained stature as a natural resource to be protected since the 2012 Rio+20 Summit. The decision to " strive to achieve a land-degradation neutral world in the context of sustainable development " (United Nations 2012, p. 54), along with the understanding that " this should act to catalyze financial resources from a range of public and private sources, " served as the foundation for further discussions about land. In 2015, land was included in the 2030 agenda for sustainable development as target 15.3 of Sustainable Development Goal 15 (SDG 15). Land has been defined as a global strategic resource that is under stress due to rapidly growing demand for biomass production to accommodate increased food and energy consumption and population dynamics. More than half of the additional two billion people who will live on Earth by 2050 will be born in Africa. The population of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is predicted to grow from 900 million to about 1.4 billion by ...
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