The Economics of Restoration

<p></p><p><span>As part of the UN's Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), South Africa committed in 2018 to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) by 2030. This commitment presents a pledge to restore vast swathes of degraded land, which, owing to South Africa's history and geography, is complex. </span></p><p><span><strong>Land degradation</strong></span><span> can be defined as a negative trend in land conditions caused by both direct and indirect human-induced processes. This results in long term reduction or loss of biological productivity, ecological integrity and/or value to humans (IPCC, 2019). </span></p>