Restoration culture: what is land degradation, how to measure it, and what you can do to reverse some negative trends?

Land degradation is a systematic loss of function in terrestrial ecosystems: a serious drop in primary productivity, biomass and biodiversity. This means the land produces less than what it is able to at its natural capacity and even eventually deteriorates completely with little to no production at all. No plants. No animals. No water. Where this occurs extensively enough, it also changes the climate. Since the start of the industrial revolution 150 years ago, land degradation has been continuously accelerating at a frightening pace. But all is not lost! We now understand how land degradation can be reversed by systematic land conservation practices, scaling up of agroecological systems, landscape-scale rehydration and massive planting of grasses, shrubs and forests, by leaning into nature and designing and building resilient ecosystems. But where is the potential for (land) restoration the highest? And how can you get involved and help re-green, re-store and expand resilient terrestrial ecosystems?Published in: https://opengeohub.medium.com/restoration-culture-what-is-land-degradation-how-to-measure-it-and-what-can-you-do-to-reverse-341e448994d