Land-use transition

Forests, soil, water resources, air – our natural environment is the basis of our lives and yet it is more at risk from human activity than ever before. High meat consumption and factory farming, massive overfishing of the world’s oceans, unsustainable forest use – as a result of these and other factors, natural resources are being depleted more rapidly than they can regenerate, flora and fauna face extinction, and land use accounts for around one-fifth of climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions. The purpose of the land use transition is to change this situation by moving towards sustainable management of terrestrial resources such as soil, forests and wetlands – for the sake of the climate and biodiversity.

The experts at the Oeko-Institut work on many aspects of land use transition. They highlight connections between climate change mitigation and biodiversity, investigate interactions between forest, food and agricultural issues, and propose integrated solutions for stakeholders in agriculture, forestry and the food sector. They produce datasets and establish the bases for policy debates on the transformation of agriculture, ecological forest management and sustainable, future-proof food systems. And lastly, they assess the feasibility and delivery of policy measures.