Land Degradation and Forest Management

Land degradation, meaning any reduction or loss in the biological or economic productive capacity of the land resource base, is a global problem. Land, water, and forest resources can become degraded due to poor and often short-sighted management. In this context, land degradation neutrality (LDN) is an approach that counterbalances the expected loss of productive land with the restoration of degraded areas. Forests are a major land use/cover that covers about 30 per cent of the land on Earth and thus hold great potential to help not only achieve LDN but also make Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) a reality.

This Research Topic will focus on forest management and restoration for achieving land degradation neutrality. The topic will focus on the various drivers of degradation such as deforestation, climate change, forest ecosystem fragmentation, invasive species, etc, as well as the management and restoration approaches that would help achieve land degradation neutrality. These approaches may include reforestation and afforestation, natural regeneration, agroforestry, enrichment planting, protected areas, invasive species management, etc. Other approaches are the promotion of private sector engagement and carbon markets, larger government subsidies and other financial support for forestry and forest management activities.

This Research Topic invites article types including Original Research, Policy and Practice Reviews and Policy Briefs, that explore the following themes, but are not limited to:
- Forest restoration for land degradation neutrality
- Agroforestry for land degradation neutrality
- Approaches to achieving land degradation neutrality
- Sustainable forest development and the achievement of SDGs
- Climate change and land degradation
- Policy and governance interventions for achieving land degradation neutrality