Sustainable land management

Sustainable land management (SLM) is at the heart of ensuring food security, avoiding, reducing and reversing land degradation, protecting biodiversity (Target 10 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Framework on Biodiversity) and building resilience to climate change (IPCC, 2019). As the global population continues to grow, the pressure on land and ecosystems intensifies. FAO works with countries and partners worldwide to implement SLM strategies that maintain land productivity, restore degraded areas and optimize natural resource use and management. 

The United Nations (UN) defines SLM as

the use and management of land resources – soil, water, animals and plants – for the production of goods to meet changing human needs, while ensuring the long‑term productive potential of these resources and maintenance of environmental functions

(FAO, 2015, p.1). 

SLM integrates soil and water conservation, natural resource management and integrated landscape management. It is based on four principles:   

1. policy and institutional support, with incentives for local SLM adoption and income generation;
2. participatory approaches driven by land users to ensure they are part of the decision‑making;
3. integrated resource use, so that land is managed sustainably at farm and ecosystem levels; and
4. multilevel, multisector and multistakeholder collaboration, involving land users, experts and policymakers. 

FAO supports countries by developing policies, providing technical guidance and implementing SLM initiatives that contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 15.3 (Land Degradation Neutrality). Key focus areas of these initiatives include:

• land degradation and soil health – monitoring and preventing soil erosion and degradation; 
• drought resilience – enhancing adaptation of agricultural lands to climate variability;
• sustainable resource management – implementing practices such as conservation agriculture, integrated land and water management and agroforestry; and
• technical support for country-reporting processes to UNCCD.

FAO's work on sustainable land management

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