LAND DEGRADATION NEUTRALITY (LDN) – Explained

 

INTRODUCTION

Land is a complex mixture of soil, water and biodiversity. Working together, these three elements create goods and services that provide a foundation for sustainable livelihoods and peaceful co-existence between peoples

Land degradation is any reduction or loss in the biological or economic productive capacity of the land resource base.

Land degradation results in unprecedented damages to the whole living world….

Therefore we need to protect and fix the land as a vital resource..

International community came together to save land……..

LDN is one such initiative

WHAT IS LDN CONCEPT ???

UNCCD Definition – “A state whereby the amount and quality of land resources, necessary to support ecosystem functions and services and enhance food security, remains stable or increases within specified temporal and spatial scales and ecosystems”

It is a unique approach that counterbalances the expected loss of productive land with the recovery of degraded areas. It squarely places the measures to conserve, sustainably manage and restore land in the context of land use planning.

LDN is intensifying the production of food, fuel and fiber to meet future demand, without further degrading our finite land resource base. In other words, LDN envisions a world where human activity has a neutral, or even positive, impact on the land.

ORIGIN OF THE CONCEPT –

The concept of LDN emerged from the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in 2012

In 2015, the 12th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 12) adopted 35 decisions related to desertification, land degradation and drought. These included how to pursue LDN within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how to align UNCCD goals and the action of Parties with the SDGs

LAND DEGRADATION TARGET SETTING PROGRAMME (LDN TSP)-

The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 15.3 states: “By 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world”

This project supports countries to establish national voluntary targets for LDN as a mean to sustainably increase food security, reduce biodiversity losses, and contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The LDN Target needs to be achieved by 2030 ( SDG target year)

The Land Degradation Neutrality Target Setting Project ensures strong Government leadership as well as active involvement of other stakeholders and sectors.

PARTICIPATION –

Currently, more than 100 countries are participating in the LDN TSP.

This global programme is implemented in cooperation with numerous partners, including the Global Environment Facility(GEF), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the European Space Agency

LAND DEGRADATION NUTRALITY FUND (LDN FUND)

LDN Fund was launched on 12 September 2017 at the 13th Conference of the Parties (COP13) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Ordos, China.

With an initial target size of US$300 million,

LDN Fund is a first-of-its-kind investment vehicle leveraging public money to raise private capital for sustainable land management and landscape restoration activities worldwide….

 

BEST PRACTICES AROUND THE WORLD

1.Sahel Integrated Lowland ecosystem Management  (SILeM) Programme – Burkina Faso

2.Capacity and management support for combating land degradation in dryland ecosystem – China

 

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