Land-use transition

Forests, soil, water, air - our natural environment is the basis of our lives. In order to preserve it in the long term, we need sustainable protection and utilization concepts. Currently, over-fertilization and high levels of pesticide use, high consumption of animal products, the selection of tree species not suited to local conditions and overfishing are all contributing to natural resources being depleted sooner than they can be replenished. These comprise an existential threat to the animal and plant world. Current land use brings about approx. a 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.