How is Gaia doing? Trends in global land degradation and improvement

Global land degradation worsens, but targeted policies show promise in land improvement, study reveals. A comprehensive update of the Global Assessment of Land Degradation and Improvement (GLADA) study spanning four decades reveals that 28.5% of the Earth’s land area is degrading, driven by megafires, deforestation, and unsustainable farming. However, targeted sustainability policies have improved biological productivity on 26% of global land, offering hope for regions adopting proactive measures. Using satellite data from 1981 to 2021, the authors tracked vegetation health and carbon capture (net primary productivity, or NPP) to map trends. Degradation hotspots include boreal forests ravaged by wildfires, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Eurasian steppes. Meanwhile, croplands in China, India, and the European Union saw significant gains due to sustained agricultural policies.

While degraded areas expanded by 4.5% compared to earlier assessments, fewer people (1.2 billion) now live in these zones, down from 1.5 billion in 2003. This shift reflects rural-to-urban migration and land abandonment. Conversely, 2.9 billion people reside in improving areas—a dramatic rise from 0.8 billion two decades ago, with China and India leading this positive trend:

• China: Rural reforms and urbanisation reduced degraded cropland, doubling agricultural output since 1980.
• India: Subsidies and price support boosted crop productivity.
• EU: Consistent agricultural policies yielded the largest net carbon gain (300 million tonnes).
• Australia: Widespread adoption of no-till farming and controlled burns reversed degradation in 48% of its land.

Satellite vegetation indices do not capture biodiversity loss or soil health. Some gains, like increased NPP, may stem from unsustainable practices such as over-fertilisation. Boreal forest losses, linked to climate-driven fires, risk long-term ecosystem collapse.

“Gains in carbon capture are dwarfed by fossil fuel emissions,” the study warns, urging investment in soil health and fossil fuel reduction. Lead researchers stress that maps of long-term trends “should be on the desk of every policymaker” to guide action.

The findings underscore the need for localised strategies to address degradation while scaling proven practices like regenerative agriculture. As the study concludes: “It remains up to politicians to ask: Where is productivity worse? Why? And what can be done?”

Read the full research article here.

Full citation: Bai, Z., Russ, J.D., Mayr, K.F. et al. How is Gaia doing? Trends in global land degradation and improvement. Ambio (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-025-02179-9