Rima Mekdaschi Studer

Sharing Knowledge to Spread Sustainable Land Management (SLM)

Abstract A large share of land/natural resource degradation is a result of poor land and water management at all levels. For years, research and various national and international organizations have been working on issues of land degradation and alternative forms of land management. Land users worldwide have been testing, adapting, and refining new and better ways of managing land more sustainably. However, there has been relatively little documentation or evidence of the range of benefits generated by SLM. The World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCATt) is one of the first programmes to promote better documentation and use of knowledge on SLM in response to land degradation. WOCAT and its network partners have developed a set of comprehensive, standardized tools and a global platform for documenting, assessing and sharing SLM knowledge to support decision making at all levels (farm, planning and policy). The constant need for adapting land management to a rapidly changing and complex world with continued and newly emerging demands calls for continuous and proper knowledge management.A large share of land/natural resource degradation is a result of poor land and water management at all levels. For years, research and various national and international organizations have been working on issues of land degradation and alternative forms of land management. Land users worldwide have been testing, adapting, and refining new and better ways of managing land more sustainably. However, there has been relatively little documentation or evidence of the range of benefits generated by SLM. The World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCATt) is one of the first programmes to promote better documentation and use of knowledge on SLM in response to land degradation. WOCAT and its network partners have developed a set of comprehensive, standardized tools and a global platform for documenting, assessing and sharing SLM knowledge to support decision making at all levels (farm, planning and policy). The constant need for adapting land management to a rapidly changing and complex world with continued and newly emerging demands calls for continuous and proper knowledge management.