No abstract

In 2013, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) established a science–policy interface (SPI) to address Parties’ need for demand-driven, timely, interdisciplinary science and technical knowledge to tackle problems of desertification, land degradation and drought. Since then, a comprehensive assessment of the SPI’s impacts on policy decision-making has been lacking, despite perceptions that the SPI is vital to the Convention’s success. Addressing this gap, this paper evaluates whether the SPI and its processes and outputs have provided the necessary scientific and technological knowledge and advice to Parties to support timely, evidence-informed decision-making. It applies an analytical framework to assess performance metrics, considering associated documents and evidence of societal relevance and social quality. The findings indicate that SPI outputs have improved implementation of the UNCCD since 2015, particularly in the context of Sustainable Development Goal Target 15.3. SPI outputs have supported scientific cooperation between the Convention and its strategic partners while enhancing its science and technology profile in line with Article 16 and Article 17. The findings indicate that further formalization of the SPI’s status within the UNCCD is vital to improve its functions, undertake its work, and enable the UNCCD to maintain its global lead in providing knowledge and advice on combating desertification, land degradation and drought.

The paper provides an overview of the-evolving methodology for the land degradation neutrality (LDN) assessment based on studies at national, regional, and local levels in Russia. A review of more than one hundred publications in Russian language over the past 6-7 years allowed for analysis of the following areas: LDN terminology, LDN assessment at different levels, adapting a transition matrix; using the LDN concept for economic valuation of land, estimating LDN baseline, and using LDN as an integral indicator for sustainable land management. With the LDN concept, a global approach to monitoring land degradation has become applicable beyond the limited geographic scope of the drylands. The paper observes how the LDN concept has been broadened with the introduction of the LDN Index proposed to evaluate the rate of LDN achievement; a proposal on reconstructing transition matrices and adding land cover sub-categories; approach of integrating traditional national sectoral systems for assessing land quality with an LDN add-on. The broader relevance of the paper includes the justification that it provides for using the LDN concept by policy-makers at national and subnational levels, in particular in Russian-speaking countries. It includes the application of additional indicators to capture soil erosion, salinity, soil depletion, aridity, etc., and using different sitespecific LDN baselines, not only those time-based but also factoring natural background trends like climate change, natural succession cycles linked with geological and geomorphological processes. Approaches for LDN-based economic valuation of lands and typology of sustainable land management practices and models were also fruitful.

The paper overviews and summarizes the results of the developing a methodology for the land degradation neutrality (LDN) assessment basing on LDN-based studies at national, regional and local levels in Russia. The review of more one hundred available publications in Russian language over the past 6-7 years allowed for analysis on the following areas: development of LDN terminology, LDN assessment at the different levels, adapting transition matrix; application of global and national LDN indicators; using the LDN concept for economic valuation of land, estimating LDN baseline, and using LDN as an integral indicator for sustainable land management. With the LDN concept the issue of land degradation (LD) has gone beyond the limited scope of desertification and drylands, and enlarged the concept of “rational” or “effective” land use and land management dominated in Russia. The LDN concept has been broadened with the introduction of the LDN Index proposed to evaluate the rate of LDN achievement; proposal on reconstructing transition matrices and adding specific land cover sub-categories; approach of integrating traditional national sectoral systems for assessing land quality with an LDN add-on; justification for using additional and specific LDN indicators at national and subnational level (soil erosion, aridity, soil salinity, soil depletion, etc.); importance of factoring natural background trends like climate change, natural succession cycles linked with geological and geomorphological processes; need for using different site-specific LDN baselines, not only those time-based; approaches for LDN-based economic valuation of lands; and the LDN-based typology of SLM practices and models.

The paper focuses on the applicability and adaptation of the novel international concept of Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) of the United Nations, as applied to the territory of Russian Federation, taking into account the large variety of its soil and climatic conditions and economic approaches, as well as the historical past. In particular, in this publication, a team of authors made an attempt to assess to what extent the estimates of the carbon balance and its main components for the study area can be used as one of the indicators of the LDN in relation to the most fertile chernozem agrolandscapes in the south of the European part of Russia (Kursk region). Field work and modelling have been carried out in natural ecosystems and agrolandscapes in the neighbourhood of the Kursk Biosphere Station (KBS) of the Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences. This valuable russian scientific research station has a long and rich history of geo(eco)system observations with LDN and net C-balance monitoring of age-old agrolandscapes, becoming one of its present focuses. Using simulation models DNDC, RothC, T&P, C-calculators, as well as long-term field measurements of soil CO2 efflux and carbon net exchange, it was found that individual software tools are not able to adequately assess carbon exchange processes of the complex landscape, but correctly selected ensembles consisting of C-balance simulations and C-calculators supported by field data are able to meet such challenges more successfully. On this condition the area's carbon net balance can serve as an alternative to the recommended global LDN indicators.