Putting land restoration into action

The condition of land shapes food and water security, biodiversity, and the livelihoods of millions. Yet more than 10% of the world’s land is already degraded, with more than 60% of human-induced degradation occurring on agricultural lands.

The scale of the challenge is visible in Mongolia, host of this year’s United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification Conference of the Parties (UNCCD COP17), where nearly 77% of the country’s land is degraded. In 2023–2024, more than seven million livestock were lost to summer drought, followed by severe winter conditions known as dzud.

How we care for land determines the strength of the wider systems that sustain life and opportunity.  Improving land management and the decisions that guide it can reduce pressures on soils and water, support livelihoods today, and protect the choices and opportunities available to future generations.

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification provides a global framework for tackling desertification, land degradation, and drought. Together with the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and wider climate commitments, the Convention provides clear policy direction. The question now is what it will take to turn that direction into action across landscapes.

Our contribution to these discussions, together with partners from government, international cooperation, civil society, philanthropy, and research, starts with implementation.

Explore how our joint initiatives are contributing to Land Degradation Neutrality, strengthening livelihoods, and supporting healthier, more resilient landscapes.

• Climate-resilient landscapes (Africa): portfolio of projects in Africa that applies an integrated landscape approach to balance competing land-use objectives and promote synergy-building across sectors.

• Climate-resilient landscapes (Asia): portfolio of projects in Asia that applies an integrated landscape approach to balance competing land-use objectives and promote synergy-building across sectors.

• Enhancing livestock productivity and resilience in Mali: increasing the resilience of 85,000 pastoralists and agro-pastoralists to climate and economic shocks in Mali.

• Pro-ARIDES for stronger agro-pastoral systems in the Sahel: connecting 2.1 million people to climate-resilient production, inclusive markets, sustainable natural resource management, and local governance improvements by 2030.

• Safeguarding pastoral livelihoods and ecosystems in the Sahel: promoting peaceful cross-border transhumance in three areas across the Sahel region.

• Soil values for healthy soils & food security: enabling 1.5 million smallholder farmers to collaboratively manage land and water resources for greater food security.

• Investing in nature: DFCD and biodiversity: inspiring greater private sector engagement in biodiversity protection and climate resilience.

• Inclusive pastoralism capability statement: portfolio of projects that supports pastoralists and agro-pastoralists with the tools, knowledge, and capacity to increase their resilience and build sustainable livelihoods.

Three must-read resources by the Coalition of Action for Soil Health (CA4SH) offer emerging thinking on landscape restoration, food systems, rangelands and pastoralism, including one to which SNV contributed.

• How healthy soil aligns the Rio conventions and global agendas: This paper reviews the key policy mechanisms under the three Rio Conventions (UNCCD, UNCBD, and UNFCCC) and identifies opportunities to strengthen the integration of soil health into national implementation, monitoring, and reporting processes. SNV as contributor.

• Restoring rangelands from the soil up: Soil health as the foundation of inclusive land restoration: This brief presents the evidence that validates the argument that soil health is a key indicator of rangeland restoration, contributes to improved and inclusive land governance, and is foundational to the restoration of rangelands. It offers priority actions for key stakeholders.

• From soil data to action: The role of soil information systems for the Rio Conventions: This brief outlines the case for policymakers to scale SISs and integrate monitoring of SOC in national reporting towards the goals of the Rio Conventions. It explores the context and need for advancing SISs to support voluntary targets laid out in national LDN, NBSAPs, and NCDs.