November 2017: A manual released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) helps stakeholders track and address land degradation occurring on islands. Titled ‘Land Degradation Assessment in Small Island Developing States’ (SIDS), the publication analyzes where and how land degradation takes place as well as what interventions are employed to address it.

The manual provides an approach based on the Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands (LADA) assessment methodology, around which FAO, the Global Mechanism of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and SIDS are already collaborating. These agencies formalized a partnership at the thirteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 13) to the UNCCD that aims to hasten LADAs in SIDS.

FAO and the UNCCD formalized a partnership to hasten LADAs in SIDS at the UNCCD COP 13.

After providing background on land degradation issues in SIDS – such as competition between the agriculture, mining, commercial forestry, and tourism sectors for limited land resources – the manual discusses the linkages between the local and national LADA assessments. It then examines how to characterize a study area, with proceeding chapters on vegetation, soil, and mangrove assessments. The publication closes with a chapter on livelihoods, and finally, a section on analysis and reporting.

Speaking on the manual, Eduardo Mansur, head of the Land and Water Division at FAO, said, “The causes of land degradation and its impacts on ecosystem services and livelihoods are often not fully understood,” and noted how the guide could close knowledge gaps and support effective responses. [Publication: Land Degradation Assessment in Small Island Developing States] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on FAO, UNCCD Partnership]