Land resources can suffer degradation from human activities, in turn affecting water and biological resources. Often, land degradation weakens the ability of communities to depend on their environment for their livelihoods. This is seen clearly when land resource potential is diminished through desertification and deforestation. Activities that contribute to land degradation include: soil erosion, denudation, pollution, loss of organic matter, fertility and vegetation cover, invasive species, habitat conversion (whether urban or agricultural) and aquifer degradation. UNDP-GEF projects in land degradation support countries in developing sustainable uses of land and policies for improved land use management. Cross-cutting projects seek to protect biodiversity of global significance, decrease GHG emissions and enhance carbon sequestration, and improve the management of transboundary waters.

In December 2001, the GEF Council agreed to create a new focal area for land degradation. This process was completed at the 16-18 October 2002 GEF Assembly meetings with approval of land degradation as a new focal area for GEF activities. The UNDP-GEF presentation Best Practices for Community-Based Land Management Practices, given during the GEF Assembly, highlights projects and activities that UNDP-GEF and UNDP have already undertaken in this focal area.

Guidance to the GEF for this focal area comes from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Global Mechanism. Furthermore, the Sixth Conference of the Parties (COP 6) to the UNCCD (25 August - 5 September 2003) formally accepted the GEF as a financial mechanism of the Convention. UNDP produced Interlinkages between Drought, Desertification and Water for CSD12 (May 2004) in collaboration with the Facilitation Committee of the Global Mechanism.

Land degradation falls under two Operational Programmes (OP), which describe the relevant aspect of the focal area and include eligibility criteria (available below). The Multifocal OP has a land degradation component, and the Sustainable Land Management OP is the newest one arising out of the GEF Assembly's approval of this focal area.

OP 12: Integrated Ecosystem Management (Multifocal)

 
Land Degradation-Related Sites
UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

Global Mechanism

Global Drylands Partnership Challenge Papers