Land degradation that has been taking place in different parts of the world and its negative impacts are acknowledged widely. One estimate notes that nearly 20-40% of global land area is degraded or degrading (UNCCD, 2022). The main causes of land degradation include anthropogenic factors such as deforestation, wetland drainage, overgrazing, and the expansion of agriculture and industrialisation and urbanisation. The need for land restoration is accepted and a number of initiatives are launched for this purpose. However, a dynamic view of the livelihoods of people and their impacts on ecosystem is somewhat missing. There is a need to understand the real constraints which work at different levels and think about what may enable land restoration. 

This monograph is based on the research and field work carried out for the G20 Global Land Initiative. The research carried out so far indicates the need for a systems approach to understand the enablers of land restoration in each country, taking into account local communities and socioeconomic factors at each step. Though there are global efforts to fund and support land restoration in specific countries, these may be attempted without understanding the domestic incentives to degrade or restore land. Locating the international effort to restore land in the context of national and local incentives is the other focus of this book. 

The book examines how a variety of factors including human development, private sector initiatives, and efforts from local communities and governments can best be put to use in specific contexts for land restoration. 

V. Santhakumar is a former Professor, Azim Premji University, India. He advocates a close connect between academics and practice and has authored a number of books for this purpose. He has been a consultant to a number of international organisations like Asian Development Bank. UNEP, UNCCD, etc.

Ritika Jain is an economics researcher and an associate professor  at the Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum. She received her PhD from the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai. She uses econometrics to analyse a variety of development issues including land degradation. She currently works on a major project for analysing the socioeconomic enablers of land restoration in 10 countries.

Muralee Thummarukudy is the Director of the G20 Global Land Initiative of the UNCCD. Prior to this assignment, he was with the UNEP. He has many years of international experience in dealing with environmental challenges, mainly due to natural disasters and conflicts.