Bending the Curve of Land Degradation to Achieve Global Environment Goals in Nature

Prof. Fernando T. Maestre (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), Prof. Bojie Fu, Prof. Lindsay Stringer and collaborators published a review paper, titled "Bending the curve of land degradation to achieve global environment goals" in Nature on 13 August 2025. The review paper presents a global pathway to reverse land degradation by transforming food systems.

The research proposes three targeted, science-based interventions to be implemented alongside current policies: reducing food waste by 75%, restoring 50% of degraded lands, and shifting towards sustainable aquatic diets (replacing 70% of red meat and 10% of vegetables). Modeling indicates that by 2050, this integrated strategy could reduce global land degradation by 54% and cut land used for food production by 56% compared to 2020 levels, successfully bending the degradation curve.

The authors urge the UN conventions on climate change, biodiversity, and desertification to align around these shared land and food system goals to achieve a sustainable and equitable future.