Sustainable Land Management

FACT SHEETS

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Rome, 2008

FACTS

One out of every three people on earth is in some way affected by land degradation. Latest estimates indicate that nearly 2 billion ha of land worldwide – an area twice the size of China– are already seriously degraded, some irreversibly. This includes large areas of cropland, grassland, woodland and forest areas whose degradation reduces productivity, disrupts vital ecosystem functions, negatively affects biodiversity and water resources, and increases s vulnerability to climate change.

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