Global Land Outlook report

GS Paper 3

Syllabus: Environment, conservation

Source: TH

Context: According to the 2nd edition of the Global Land Outlook (GLO) report, humans have breached four out of nine planetary boundaries.

GLO:

• It is a United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification’s (UNCCD) flagship publication, whose 1st edition was launched in 2017 at the UNCCD COP13 (China).
• It underscores land system challenges, showcases transformative policies and practices, and points to cost-effective pathways to scale up sustainable land and water management.

Highlights of the report:

 Importance of Land: It is the operative link between biodiversity loss and climate change, which means restoring land is crucial to solving interconnected crises.

What are planetary boundaries?

• The environmental thresholds that establish a “safe operating space for humanity” are known as planetary boundaries.
• The nine planetary boundaries are:
  • Biodiversity loss
  • Land-use change
  • Climate change
  • Nitrogen and phosphorus (geochemical) cycles
  • Freshwater use
  • Ocean acidification
  • Chemical pollution
  • Atmospheric loading
  • Ozone depletion

Threats:

• Humans have already altered more than 70% of the earth’s land area from its natural state.
• Of the 9 planetary boundaries, climate change, biodiversity loss, land-use change, and geochemical cycles have already been exceeded.

Causes:

• Worldwide, food systems (including agriculture) are responsible for 80% of deforestation and 70% of freshwater use and are the single greatest cause of terrestrial biodiversity loss.
• Land degradation, desertification and drought pose a great risk to global food security as well.
  • Land degradation is the reduction or loss of biological and economic productivity of land and its constituents: soil, water, and biodiversity.

Impact: This has contributed significantly to global warming and environmental degradation → leading to a rise in poverty, hunger, inequality, zoonotic disease transmission, etc.

Recommendations:  

Effective land restoration:

• The report defines land restoration as a continuum of activities that
  • Avoid (By eliminating practices that degrade the environment, ranging from land and ecosystem conversion to socio-economic inequalities)
  • Reduce (By adopting sustainable land and water management practices) and
  • Reverse (By revitalising soil, watersheds, and other elements of natural ecosystems) land degradation with the explicit objective of meeting human needs and improving ecology.
• The global annual cost of land restoration is expected at ~$300 billion by 2030.
• Each dollar invested is estimated to return between $7 and $30 in economic benefits, moving towards an equitable and sustainable future.

Achieving land degradation neutrality (LDN): LDN is a state whereby the quantity and quality of land resources required to maintain ecosystem functions and services and improve food security are steady or growing.

Integrated land use planning:

• Identifying the best combination of land uses → sustainably meeting the needs of the stakeholders as well as preserving the land resources.
• A cost-effective approach is to identify landscapes while maximising benefits, such as in global restoration hotspots.

Regenerative agricultural practices: Like terrace farming and rainwater harvesting → help restore land, increase crop yields, reduce GHG emissions, sequester atmospheric carbon, and create meaningful livelihoods.

Inclusive and responsible governance: It is crucial to facilitate the shift to sustainable land use and management practices.

Some best practices in India:

• Holiyas: These are water management systems in Gujarat, which store rainwater below the land surface. The groundwater can be accessed and distributed using solar pumps when there is scarcity.
• Plantopathy: It is a unique nature-based solution that can limit the impact of plant diseases on yields without pesticides or chemicals.
• Zero budget natural farming (ZBNF): It combines traditional and emerging practices to reduce costs (i.e., zero budget) while boosting yields and overall farm health by using organic inputs sourced locally (i.e., natural farming).

Conclusion: Land restoration is a shared responsibility. Hence, governments, scientists, civil society, and private sector players need to work together to set land and ecosystem restoration goals that transform land-use systems.

Insta Links:

Forest landscape restoration