The Drylands Advantage: Protecting the Environment, Empowering People

This guidance document focuses on the importance of drylands as ecosystems ranging from rangelands and grasslands to semi-desert, and host 1.1 billion hectares of forest – more than a quarter of the world’s forest area. It highlights how despite their importance, drylands are being degraded through a complex combination of climatic and human stresses, such as unsustainable farming techniques, mining and overgrazing.