Land degradation and desertification reduce the provision of ecosystem services by lands and soils. This constrains development, reduces water, food, and energy security, and triggers resource conflicts. Although biophysical processes and economic impacts are increasingly understood, efforts to combat degradation have been failing thus far to prevent further losses of land productivity, a cost estimated at 42 billion USD/year.
This document A 6+1 Step Approach to Assess the Economics of Land Management serves as an instructional and guiding text for stakeholders interested in performing cost-benefit analyses for sustainable land management options using the ELD Initiative supported approach, and includes examples from the initiative and its partners to demonstrate how each part of the process functions practically. The 6+1 step approach is the analysis method that has been adopted by the ELD Initiative to guide users through the process of establishing scientifically sound cost-benefit analyses to inform decision-making processes.