TY - JOUR
T1 - Restoring Degraded Lands
AU - Arneth, Almut
AU - Olsson, Lennart
AU - Cowie, Annette
AU - Erb, Karl Heinz
AU - Hurlbert, Margot
AU - Kurz, Werner A.
AU - Mirzabaev, Alisher
AU - Rounsevell, Mark D.A.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Land degradation continues to be an enormous challenge to human societies, reducing food security, emitting greenhouse gases and aerosols, driving the loss of biodiversity, polluting water, and undermining a wide range of ecosystem services beyond food supply and water and climate regulation. Climate change will exacerbate several degradation processes. Investment in diverse restoration efforts, including sustainable agricultural and forest land management, as well as land set aside for conservation wherever possible, will generate co-benefits for climate change mitigation and adaptation and morebroadly for human and societal well-being and the economy. This review highlights the magnitude of the degradation problem and some of the key challenges for ecological restoration. There are biophysical as well as societal limits to restoration. Better integrating policies to jointly address poverty, land degradation, and greenhouse gas emissions and removals is fundamental to reducing many existing barriers and contributing to climate-resilient sustainable development.
AB - Land degradation continues to be an enormous challenge to human societies, reducing food security, emitting greenhouse gases and aerosols, driving the loss of biodiversity, polluting water, and undermining a wide range of ecosystem services beyond food supply and water and climate regulation. Climate change will exacerbate several degradation processes. Investment in diverse restoration efforts, including sustainable agricultural and forest land management, as well as land set aside for conservation wherever possible, will generate co-benefits for climate change mitigation and adaptation and morebroadly for human and societal well-being and the economy. This review highlights the magnitude of the degradation problem and some of the key challenges for ecological restoration. There are biophysical as well as societal limits to restoration. Better integrating policies to jointly address poverty, land degradation, and greenhouse gas emissions and removals is fundamental to reducing many existing barriers and contributing to climate-resilient sustainable development.
KW - biodiversity
KW - carbon cycle
KW - climate change adaptation
KW - climate change mitigation
KW - global environmental change
U2 - 10.1146/annurev-environ-012320-054809
DO - 10.1146/annurev-environ-012320-054809
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85111352290
SN - 1543-5938
VL - 46
SP - 569
EP - 599
JO - Annual Review of Environment and Resources
JF - Annual Review of Environment and Resources
ER -