Land Use Planning for Land Degradation Neutrality: Reflections and Critical Challenges

Abstract

Positing that land use planning (LUP) is both a technical and a political endeavor that should predominantly promote the preservation of the land-based natural capital, the present study aspires to first, constructively problematize the Scientific Conceptual Framework for Land Degradation Neutrality (SCF-LDN) approach and second, reveal the challenges of integrating LDN into LUP. This paper comprises four sections. The first briefly outlines and appraises the SCF-LDN approach and the second presents and deepens into the concept of LDN drawing on the broader concept of neutrality. The third section briefly presents LUP and the SCF-LDN guidance on LUP for LDN, examines how the SCF-LDN conception and guidance (LDN concerns for short) can be integrated in each stage of the (formal) LUP process, and identifies the main challenges that arise. A small fifth section sets the key question for LUP. The Conclusions recapitulate the discussion, reflect on the need for complementary and/or alternative socio-politically situated (context- and scale-sensitive) LUP and other processes to preserve the land-based natural capital and suggest avenues for future research. The main aim of this paper is to show, through an extensive critical review and an in-depth methodological analysis of the review outcomes, that land degradation neutrality is not as relevant and well justified in a planning context as often assumed, a problem exacerbated by its ambiguous definition. LDN, as a global requirement, can be retained to serve as a special exercise to support global assessments.