Living Land

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land management challenges in the context of sustainable

development. These include food, water and energy security;

climate action and biodiversity conservation; urban and infra-

structure development; land tenure, gender and governance;

and migration, conflict and human security.

Several important scientific assessments to support deci-

sion-making are in the pipeline. The consensus and policy

cooperation they are mobilizing are pointers of success. What

is lacking, however, are specific products aimed at the public.

Products that show, in practical terms, what it means to

restore or rehabilitate degraded land; where success has been

achieved; and how the public can get involved.

As one of the few publications that have endeavoured to fill

this gap,

Living Land

is a powerful outreach tool for sensitizing

the public about the problem, and mobilizing action globally. It

is also an important tool for sensitizing policymakers and deci-

sion makers who are not well versed in the subject, but whose

work is related to the issues of land degradation and drought.

Living Land

targets the same audience as the

Land for Life

series of publications but its approach is different. It tells

the story of fighting land degradation from the perspective

of the actors with a duty to ensure good land stewardship

— governments. By contrast, the

Land for Life

publications

tell the same story from the perspective of other stakeholders

— intergovernmental, non-governmental organizations and

community-based organizations.

How to use this publication

Living Land

is written in a style that is suitable for anyone inter-

ested in this issue. Therefore, readers who are simply curious

about the subject or who wish to understand the issues of land

degradation will find this book particularly useful.

But the book is also very rich in content and will be particu-

larly useful for educators who are looking to understand the

subject and for teachers of environmental sciences, including

at the undergraduate level. Other potential users are journal-

ists, activists, researchers and extension works who need a

comprehensive publication to introduce them to the subject

and to provide pointers in the direction the subject is moving.

The third category is the practitioners who are interested in

doing something about land degradation. Funding agencies,

the private sector, humanitarian and other non-governmental

organizations and military personnel will all find this publica-

tion an important source of knowledge about different regions

of the world, the main drivers of desertification and land

degradation in different regions, the variety of tools available

to address the different challenges, and the key and range of

actors involved in this issue.

Each of the articles is written as a stand-alone piece,

therefore readers can start with any article of their choice.

Nevertheless, the articles are clustered around particular

themes, for instance, water or food security.

Still, many of the articles cut across several themes. For

instance, an article highlighting the link between land degrada-

tion and water scarcity may also speak to a unique sustainable

land management technique used or an innovative financing

mechanism employed as part of the solution. Therefore, educa-

tors need to invest some time to select the most suitable articles

for their purpose. Skimmers can read the first paragraph (in bold

text) of each article to find out the central message of each piece.

iving

and

Sustainable land management — an untapped source of employment that can transform livelihoods in some of the poorest regions of the world

Image: Nimai Ghosh & UNCCD 2013 Photo Contest