What is increasing the pressure on land resources? How can a fair and sustainable use of land resources be achieved?
Three-quarters of the world’s ice-free land is utilized by humans. As a result, large stretches of forest have been, and continue to be, converted into farmland while other regions are used for grazing or urban settlements.
Climate change, intensified land use, and growing competition for land are increasing the pressure on ecosystems—not just in arid regions of the planet. If these trends persist, many ecosystems risk reaching tipping points. For both biodiversity and humanity, this could lead to severe and irreversible changes.
Dr. Stefan Liehr, Head of the Social-Ecological Systems Hub
Read moreIn our research, we develop management and governance strategies for the sustainable use of land resources, closely integrating issues of sustainable water use and biodiversity protection.
Our goal is to identify critical developments at an early stage to prevent damage caused by extreme weather events and socio-ecological tipping points that could hinder sustainable land use. At the same time, we investigate ways to resolve conflicts between different stakeholder groups in order to facilitate the transition to fair and sustainable land use.
The MORE STEP research project is investigating change processes in the ecosystem of the eastern Mongolian steppe and their possible consequences for nature and society.
