The Earth’s land resources are being stretched to their limit. To varying degrees, land degradation affects 20-40 percent of the global land area. This is caused by human activities – such as agricultural expansion, deforestation, and grazing – undertaken to meet the demands of a growing population. The pressures on land resources have never been so intense and are undermining the wellbeing of 3.2 billion people, compromising key agrifood systems, threatening biodiversity and ecosystem services, and aggravating the climate crisis. These alarming trends are described in the recently published FAO report State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture, and the UNCCD’s second edition of the Global Land Outlook.