Integrating Nature-based Solutions for Land Degradation Neutrality and Deriving Co-Benefits

Land degradation refers to the decline in land condition leading to the long-term reduction or loss of biological productivity and ecological integrity. Land degradation is a pressing global concern, acting as a threat multiplier and amplifying other risks (e.g., food security, climate stability and environmental sustainability). In response, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) introduced the concept of Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), aimed to achieve 'zero net land degradation'. Nature-based solutions (NbS) are actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural and modified ecosystems, including reforestation, natural forest management, and agroforestry management. Unlike conventional methods heavily relying on synthetic inputs and intensive management, NbS leverage natural processes and harmonizes with natural systems, thus minimizing environmental harm. The potential of NbS to achieve LDN and provide multiple co-benefits, such as biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and adaptation, food production improvement, and poverty eradication, is significant. Recognizing the synergies between land degradation mitigation outputs and other co-benefits of different NbS measures would facilitate combating land degradation and achieving Sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The Research Topic seeks to compile the latest research and provide a holistic understanding of land degradation dynamics and how NbS can contribute to mitigating land degradation while offering social, economic, and environmental benefits. The focus of this Research Topic is to comprehend the patterns, processes, drivers and impacts of land degradation; explore the potential of NbS to achieve LDN and other co-benefits; and to clarify the micro- and macro- level mechanisms of NbS. We stress the crucial need for interdisciplinary research and communication, inviting researchers from forestry, agriculture, and ecology to submit papers sharing new insight and findings from field experiments, large-scale transect surveys, process-based model, alongside remote sensing observation. These studies will enhance the understanding of NbS and help formulate more effective land management policies under changing environment, emphasizing the importance of collaboration in our collective goal of combating land degradation.

We welcome the submission of original research articles, methods, perspectives, reviews and mini-reviews at both macro and micro scales, addressing the following and other relevant subtopics, but not limited to:

• The discussion on concepts, theory, framework and related methodology of NbS
• The history, current status or future land degradation trends, and its multidimensional cause and impact.
• The application, role and mechanisms of NbS in mitigating land degradation and promoting co-benefits.
• Trade-offs and synergies among multiple co-benefits of NbS

Keywords: Land degradation, Nature-based solutions (NbS), Sustainable land management, Ecosystem restoration, Ecological integrity, Sustainable development goals (SDGs)

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.