Challenges for sustainable development goal of land degradation neutrality in drylands: Evidence from the Northern Slope of the Tianshan Mountains, China

Haochen Yu; Dengyu Yin; Bin Yang; Yongjun Yang; Fu Chen

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173094

Challenges for sustainable development goal of land degradation neutrality in drylands: Evidence from the Northern Slope of the Tianshan Mountains, China

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Jul 1:932:173094. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173094. Epub 2024 May 8.

Authors

Haochen Yu¹, Dengyu Yin², Bin Yang³, Yongjun Yang⁴, Fu Chen⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Economics and Management, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266061, China.
² School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China.
³ School of Public Policy and Management, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China.
⁴ School of Environment and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China.
⁵ School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China.

PMID: 38729378
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173094

Abstract

The SDG 15.3.1 target of Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) only has 15 years from conception (in 2015) to realization (in 2030). Therefore, investigating the effectiveness and challenges of LDN has become a priority, especially in drylands, where fragile ecosystems intersect with multiple disturbances. In this study, solutions are proposed and validated based on the challenges of LDN. We chose the Northern Slope of the Tianshan Mountains as a case study and set baselines in 2005 and 2010. The region and degree of land change (including degraded, stable, and improved) were depicted at the pixel scale (100 × 100 m), and LDN realization was assessed at the regional scale (including administrative districts and 5000 × 5000 m grids). The results showed a significant disparity between the two baselines. The number of areas that realized the LDN target was rare, regardless of the scale of the administrative districts or grids. Chord plots, Spearman's correlation, and curve estimation were employed to reveal the relationship between LDN and seven natural or socioeconomic factors. We found that substantial degradation was closely related to the expansion of unused, urban, and mining land and reduction in water, glaciers, and forests. Further evidence suggests that agricultural development both positively and negatively affects LDN, whereas urbanization and mining activities are undesirable for LDN. Notably, the adverse effects of glacier melting require additional attention. Therefore, we consider the easy-to-achieve and hard-to-achieve baselines as the mandatory and desirable targets of LDN, respectively, and focus further efforts in three aspects: preventing agricultural exploitation from occupying ecological resources, defining reasonable zones for urbanization and mining, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate warming. Overall, this study is expected to be a beneficial addition to existing LDN theoretical systems and serve as a case validation of the challenges of LDN in drylands.

Keywords: Drylands; Ecosystem services; Land degradation neutrality; Like-for-like; One out–all out; Sustainable land management.