Land degradation affects much of the world’s land and threatens the lives and livelihoods of billions of people. Many countries have pledged large-scale restoration, yet recent global assessments show that degradation continues to outpace progress. This book examines why these efforts fall short and what can be done to change course.

This book uses a comparative case-study approach to study how socioeconomic conditions shape the pace and pattern of degradation in ten countries - Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, India, Peru, South Africa and Tanzania - that together account for nearly half of global restoration commitments. Using a framework that combines systems thinking with the DPSIR (drivers, pressures, states, impacts and responses) model, it traces how income levels, human development, historical land policies, land tenure, and structural change influence both degradation and the ability to restore land.

The contrasting histories, landscapes and development paths of the countries studied reveal why similar restoration pledges produce different outcomes. By linking institutions and social conditions to environmental change, the book highlights the factors that enable or hinder meaningful progress toward addressing land degradation.