Knowra Land degradation Land degradation Land degradation is the persistent decline in land’s capacity to provide ecological and productive functions, often through soil erosion, nutrient loss, salinization, or vegetation decline.
Soil erosion : The removal of topsoil by water, wind, or other forces. Erosion strips away fertile soil and can expose land to further decline.
Land degradation neutrality : A policy goal of balancing land degradation with restoration so that land resources and functions do not decline overall. It turns the broad problem into a target for national planning and monitoring.
Biodiversity loss : The decline or disappearance of biological diversity within a species, ecosystem, or region. Habitat deterioration and reduced ecosystem quality can drive species losses.
Land cover : The physical material present on Earth’s surface, such as vegetation, water, bare soil, or buildings. Changes in cover can indicate degradation, though they do not alone establish land function.
Land improvement : A human-driven change that increases land’s productive or ecological capacity. It describes the opposite direction of change from persistent loss of land function.
Desertification : Land degradation in drylands caused by climatic variations and human activities. It is a prominent form of degradation in arid, semiarid, and dry subhumid regions.
Land-use planning : The process of allocating land uses to meet social, economic, and environmental objectives. Planning can steer development away from vulnerable land and reduce damaging pressures.
Food security : A condition in which all people have reliable access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food. Lower soil fertility and crop productivity can threaten food availability and livelihoods.
Land use : The human purposes and activities associated with a parcel of land. Agriculture, grazing, and development can alter land condition and its capacity to function.
Land restoration : The process of assisting the recovery of degraded, damaged, or destroyed land ecosystems. Restoration seeks to recover functions that degradation has diminished.
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