10 August 2015: The Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) initiative has published a user guide for assessing the total economic value of land and land-based services that draws on the ‘6+1’ cost-benefit analysis approach used by ELD and its partners to support scientifically sound decision making and action on sustainable land management (SLM).
The user guide explains how to undertake each of the steps in the ELD methodological approach, which correspond to the types of information and decision making options at each phase of the assessment process, namely: inception; geographical characteristics; types of ecosystem services; roles of ecosystem services and economic valuation; patterns and pressures; cost-benefit analysis and decision making; and action.

The publication provides numerous practical examples from ELD case studies to illustrate each of the steps, including: undertaking stakeholder consultations at the local level; choosing the right technologies to map land-use practices and land degradation within different agro-ecological zones; assessing the type and state of ecosystems services stocks and flows for each land cover category; and supporting “multi-criteria decision analysis” involving private and public decision makers to ensure the implementation of long-term SLM options at different scales.

The ELD user guide was published with the support of the partner organizations of the ELD Initiative and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). ELD partners include the European Commission, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and UN University (UNU). [ELD Announcement] [Publication: The 6+1 Step Approach to Assess the Economics of Land Management]