Drylands and land degradation

Drylands are found in tropical and temperate latitudes and account for 41.3% of the global terrestrial area. Drylands can be classified into four types - dry sub-humid, semi-arid, arid and hyper-arid lands - and encompass a variety of ecosystems. 

About drylands and land degradation

Drylands share one or several of the below characteristics:

  • scarcity of water, but not necessarily low rainfall.
  • not all suffer from water shortage, but all face high levels of potential water loss
  • the potential loss of water through evaporation and transpiration is significantly greater than the mean precipitation
  • high evapotranspiration rates and high uncertainty of precipitation.
  • Precipitation in drylands can be high

Drylands are tropical temperate regions that have an Aridity index of less than 0.65 Aridity Index

IUCN Definition, 2008

The real determinant of aridity is evapotranspiration, which is influenced by temperature, wind and vegetation among other factors.

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2 billion

people live in drylands
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and 25-35% of these lands are already degraded

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44% +

of the world’s food system
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will be affected by climate change disrupting dryland ecosystems    

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Land Degradation Neutrality

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Implications and opportunities for conservation

Nature-based Solutions to desertification, land degradation and drought

The Global Drylands Initiative

The goal of the Global Drylands Initiative is to restore, sustainably manage and protect dryland ecosystems for multiple environmental, economic and social benefits. The Initiative supports countries to adapt ecosystem management policy and practice to the unique conditions of the drylands and to the evolving challenges that the drylands face. 

Specifically, this Initiative has three strategic priorities:

  • Generate evidence for targeting and monitoring of ...

The Global Drylands Initiative

The goal of the Global Drylands Initiative is to restore, sustainably manage and protect dryland ecosystems for multiple environmental, economic and social benefits. The Initiative supports countries to adapt ecosystem management policy and practice to the unique conditions of the drylands and to the evolving challenges that the drylands face. 

Specifically, this Initiative has three strategic priorities:

  • Generate evidence for targeting and monitoring of dryland conditions and trends through adapted assessment approaches that operationalize current understanding on non-equilibrium dryland ecology.

  • Strengthen governance for sustainable land management by strengthening of resource rights, establishment of institutional mechanisms for ecosystem management, and development of enabling conditions for policy implementation and revision.

  • Promote policy implementation for dryland ecosystem management by enhancing the knowledge and capacity of various stakeholders to adapt policies and investments to the unique conditions of the drylands.

Further, as the IUCN Focal Point to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the Global Drylands Initiative leads IUCN's efforts to influence the global discourse on Land Degradation and Sustainable Land Management. In this case, the Initiative supports countries to implement their commitments to the Convention by demonstrating good practices on the ground, influencing the science-policy interaction of the Convention itself and working with other stakeholders to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality.

A boy drags a jerry can of water in Kenya's drylands
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