The journey Life on Land as organised by IUCN and the UNCCD secretariats at the World Conservation Congress in Hawaii, 2016, consisted of a series of events capturing diverse interpretations of land and how land issues are addressed by the conservation and development communities. The events provide insights into how different perceptions of land influence policy and investment, and how these can be better aligned for more effective action. The events within the journey were connected through a series of guiding questions:
- What is land? How do different interpretations of the term “land”, and different perspectives on its present and future value, contribute to, or impede, sustainable land management?
- Who does land belong to? How do we balance rights to land with responsibilities for the sustainable management of land?
- How do we manage land for the common good? What policies and investments are needed to protect the multiple values of land to society, and how can they be increased proportional to the importance of land to society and future generations?
The report of the journey provides a quick insight into the great diversity of perspectives on land: what it is to different people, and how it is best managed to protected terrestrial ecosystem services and biodiversity. The report contributes to IUCN and UNCCD’s joint Work Plan and the combined effort to raise global awareness of the importance of achieving Sustainable Development target 15.3: Land Degradation Neutrality.
