**Preface to "Soil Erosion and Sustainable Land Management (SLM)"**

Soil erosion-induced land degradation is one of the topsoil threats identified in the 2015 Status of the World's Soil Resources report. This concern is expected to be intensified as recent projections show global soil erosion rates to increase by up to 66% during the period 2015–2070 due to the unsustainable use of the limited land and water resources under scenarios of climate and land use changes and population growth. Several studies stress the significance of sustainable land management (SLM) for achieving the UNCCD's (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification) target of land degradation neutrality by 2030. For this, proper identification and implementation of sustainable land management (SLM) practices are believed to offer a triple-win solution of conserving the resources, increasing agricultural productivity and improving human livelihood and well-being.

However, success in fighting land degradation through SLM requires improved understanding and documentation of land degradation processes and their risks as well as development and adoption of mitigation techniques. There is therefore a strong need for the development of systematic, robust and validated methods to better understand and support the development and adoption of SLM measures at various spatiotemporal scales.

This Special Issue presents 13 case studies conducted in Africa, Europe, North America and Asia. The studies specifically help to improve assessment of the causes and impacts of soil erosion at various spatiotemporal scales; clarify the human and natural drivers of soil erosion; and propose promising land management technologies to mitigate soil erosion while improving land productivity. These would ultimately help in the formulation of appropriate policies towards improving the adoption of SLM and solving associated socio-economic problems. Such comprehensive topical coverage places the book at a unique position that would be useful for researchers, planners and practitioners of SLM.

> **Atsushi Tsunekawa, Nigussie Haregeweyn** *Editors*

*Article*
