12 November 2014: The Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has published a report, titled ‘The Land in Numbers: Livelihoods at a Tipping Point,’ which includes data and statistics related to land use and land degradation.

UNCCD Executive Secretary Monique Barbut writes in her introduction, “The numbers tell a story. From it, we can determine what we should do now in order to make land degradation neutrality a reality for us and for future generations.”

Among the facts and figures in the publication are the following: humans obtain more than 99.7% of their food (calories) from land; the soil’s nutrient cycling provides the largest contribution (51%) of the total value (US$33 trillion) of all ecosystem services provided each year; 25% of the world’s land area is either highly degraded or undergoing high rates of degradation; and land use change and degradation is responsible for about 20% of carbon emissions globally.

The extensively referenced collection of data concludes with the note that “Achieving land degradation neutrality, i.e. preventing land degradation and rehabilitating already degraded land, by scaling up sustainable land management and accelerating restoration initiatives is a pathway to greater resilience and security for all.” [Publication: The Land in Numbers: Livelihoods at a Tipping Point]