Asia
Area: 44,579,000 km²
Asia holds almost 60 per cent of the world’s population. Of this, nearly 70 per cent live in rural areas depending directly on land and land-based ecosystem services. As a result, Asia is the continent most severely affected by land degradation, desertification and drought in terms of the number of people affected.
Degraded areas on the continent include expanding deserts in mainland China, India, Iran, Mongolia, and Pakistan, the sand dunes of Central Asia, the steeply eroded mountain slopes of Nepal, and the deforested and overgrazed highlands of the Lao People‘s Democratic Republic.
An ELD analysis finds investments in sustainable land management technologies and the achievement of agricultural land degradation neutrality to enable countries to reduce the poverty gap to zero by 2030, increase the total per capita domestic food crop production to 858 kilograms across Asia by 2030 and result in economic growth as well as expansion in the agricultural sector. (ELD Asia Report, 2018)
ELD Activities
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Asia Report (2018)
Title: The Economics of Land Degradation Neutrality in Asia. Empirical Analyses and Policy Implications for the Sustainable Development Goals
Authors: Tilahun M., Singh A., Kumar P., Apindi E., Schauer M., Libera J., Lund H.G.
Scope and findings: The report highlights the cost of land degradation and what economic benefits are generated through investments in sustainable land management. It suggests that if all Asian countries over the span of the next 13 years (2018-2030) invest in and develop sustainable land management technologies on their 487 million hectares of agricultural lands, they could create a net present value of about USD 3,008 billion, equal to USD 6,169 per hectare with a benefit-cost ratio of about 3.5. Additionally, the analysis aims at assessing the policy implications of achieving SDG 15.3 on achieving other SGDs, in particular economic growth, rural employment, poverty reduction and food security. -
Central Asia Regional Report (2016)
Title: Central Asia Regional Report. Broadening land management options for improved economic sustainability across Central Asia: A synthesis of national studies
Authors: Quillérou E., Thomas R.J., Guchgeldiyev O., Ettling S., Etter H., Stewart N.
Scope and findings: The regional report presents the findings of ELD research from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Estimates suggest 40-100 per cent of the area to be degraded across each country. The document summarises the findings from each country alongside the ‘6+1 steps’ of the ELD approach, and synthesises country-specific recommendations for policy-/decision-makers in Central Asia on improved land use to create greater economic, social, and environmental benefits.- Report (en)