Loss of biodiversity and pressures on ecosystem services are global challenges. Land cover change is the best measure available to monitor pressures on terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity. The OECD is developing new indicators on land cover changes and conversions.

This report provides a new perspective to the nature of urban sprawl and its causes and environmental, social and economic consequences. This perspective, which is based on the multi-dimensionality of urban sprawl, sets the foundations for the construction of new indicators to measure the various…

The policy requests to develop trends in soil erosion changes can be responded developing modelling scenarios of the two most dynamic factors in soil erosion, i.e. rainfall erosivity and land cover change. The recently developed Rainfall Erosivity Database at European Scale (REDES) and a statistical…

In recent years, interest has emerged in policy circles and among academics about the use of foreign aid to reduce international migration. Scholars have investigated this aid-migration nexus, but results have been mixed and questions remain. This paper contributes to the literature by comparing the…

Quantified information on land degradation and restoration is needed to support policies for sustainable ecosystem management and socioeconomic development. The arid and semiarid zones of China (ASZC) have experienced significant land degradation, and in response to such degradation, multiple…

This study is the first to comprehensively evaluate the spatial and temporal change of vacant land within the built‐up area of a large city in China. We used the core city of Shanghai as a case‐study to systematically investigate the spatial–temporal distribution of vacant land at the fine scale…

Migration is one of the defining features of the 21st century. It contributes significantly to all aspects of economic and social development everywhere, and as such will be key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But migration can also negatively impact development, and though…

Land use and city planners will increasingly have to address the cost of occupying productive agricultural land or the conversion of natural habitats. Landscape designs and urban planning should aim for the preservation of agricultural land and the integrated management of land resources by closing…

Africa is projected to have the fastest urban growth rate in the world — by 2050, Africa’s cities will be home to an additional 950 million people. Urban planning and management are essential development challenges. Understanding urbanisation, its drivers, dynamics and impacts, is key to designing…

An investigation into the private library of Mahmoud Mau inspires new research on Islamic intellectual history and the Swahili poetic production of coastal Kenya.

This year, the UN World Water Day explores how water and climate change are inextricably linked. Water stocks are under increased pressure as the global population grows and natural resources are depleted; climate change only serves to exacerbate this situation. To mark this day, Springer Nature is…

Global environmental change is rapidly altering the dynamics of terrestrial vegetation, with consequences for the functioning of the Earth system and provision of ecosystem services.

17 Case Studies of soil threats are included in RECARE to study the various conditions that occur across Europe and to find appropriate responses using an innovative approach combining scientific and local knowledge.

Water resource management needs to be improved to meet the growing demand for drinking water and for water used in the agricultural and energy sectors.

Soil is a natural resource essential to human welfare by virtue of its numerous crucial functions.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) released data showing that 71% of migrants on Mediterranean routes to Europe experience “exploitation and practices which may amount to human trafficking.” IOM’s data analyze the scale of abuse, exploitation and trafficking experienced by migrants…

UNCCD Library Book of the month: Soil Atlas 2015: Facts and figures about earth, land and fields (March 17 2015)

The report presents China’s overall and staged poverty alleviation progress and the role of financing over time. It identifies four main types of financing; namely fiscal, credit, social and international funds, which comply with China’s major poverty reduction approaches. The report showcases five…

The momentum of urbanization and its impacts are so massive that we must face up to this trend. In view of the existing cognitive, technical, economic and institutional path dependencies, a policy of business as usual – i.e. an unstructured, quasi-automatic urbanization – would lead to a non…

The global map by JRC released in 2008 measures urbanisation from the new perspective of Travel Time to 8,500 Major Cities. The map fills an important gap in our understanding of economic, physical and even social connectivity.

Our planet might be blue, but we may still be left thirsty. While almost three quarters of the Earth’s surface is covered in water, less than 3 per cent of that resource is actually freshwater, of which maybe only 1 per cent is readily accessible. We depend on that 1 per cent.

Faced with a global threat to food security, it is perfectly possible that society will respond, not by a dystopian disintegration, but rather by reasserting co-operative traditions. This book, by a leading expert in urban agriculture, offers a genuine solution to today’s global food crisis.

In the words of Yang and Lu (2016), "wind erosion is a major environmental problem in dryland areas, which causes land degradation (Funk et al., 2004; Lal, 1993) and affects regional development (Yang et al., 2005)." Consequently, they felt it was important to evaluate the intensity of wind erosion…

Water stress levels in many parts of China are very high, due to low levels of water supply and very high levels of demand. And new research shows the situation is worsening.

Cropland losses will have consequences especially for Asia and Africa, which will experience growing food insecurity as cities expand