Land rights and land management

28 July 2026

Ingrid Teich

“Restoring land means restoring hope – by putting people at the centre”

Land degradation is often described using data, maps, and global indicators. Ahead of UNCCD COP17, happening in August 2026, Ingrid Teich, CDE/WOCAT scientist and international expert on land degradation neutrality, explains why it’s so important to communicate clearly what land degradation means for people and their lives.

27 May 2026

Nicole Harari and Maurice Tschopp

Digital tools in the field

The research and innovation project AgriPath began with a clear mission: to use digital agricultural advisory services to promote sustainable agricultural practices among smallholder farmers in Africa and Asia – and to improve their income and climate resilience. After five years, CDE’s Nicole Harari and Maurice Tschopp offer key insights.

5 December 2023

Tatenda Lemann

“We still have scope to adapt our land management”

The slogan for World Soil Day on 5 December 2023 is “Soil and water, a source of life”. The statistics make you sit up: Behind the numbers is a dramatic development that has barely registered with the public. “We urgently need to foster discussions about why and how we use soil and water,” says CDE scientist Tatenda Lemann.

10 May 2022

“We have to do a better job of tapping the synergies between the three Rio Conventions”

From 9 to 20 May 2022, 197 parties are meeting for the UNCCD COP15. The goal is to halt desertification, land degradation, and drought, and to preserve land for future generations. In the interview Nicole Harari, CDE researcher and member of WOCAT's executive team, explains the issues.

7 April 2022

Land deals increase income, but not well-being

Lao PDR has managed to generate an economic boom, reducing poverty and creating a significant number of jobs in rural areas. A Lao researcher examined the data as part of his doctoral studies at CDE – and the results are sobering.

28 September 2021

“Large land deals have become a risk factor for pandemics”

The Land Matrix Initiative warns that the land rush and its consequences have taken on “in part alarming” proportions. This would also increase the risk of new pandemics, says CDE scientist Markus Giger, one of the main authors of the report.

24 June 2021

“State recognition of commoners’ organizations is extremely important”

Communal property has been a tradition in Switzerland since the Middle Ages. But what about today – are collective bodies and their resources still relevant in mountain regions? And if so, how do they contribute to sustainable development?

17 March 2021

“We need to ask more about what else could have been”

In our hyperconnected world, decisions made far away in one corner of the globe increasingly impact what happens on the ground in another location. CDE researchers have studied how these mechanisms work. Flurina Schneider discusses the results.

18 February 2020

Making land deals more sustainable: The example of Laos

The strategy for development of Laos has included making money from land. But what is the quality of these investments? Mandated by the Lao government, CDE scientists have developed an index that assesses the quality of land deals.

29 January 2020

When the meanings of a place collide

Land is often subject to widely diverging ideas as to its current or future significance. A CDE-led study on a nature reserve in Oregon demonstrates how land use, power, and place claims interact and shape socio-ecological developments.

24 October 2019

Research partnership between Switzerland and Ethiopia brings knowledge to the field

The results of a long-term Swiss–Ethiopian research partnership in the Upper Blue Nile basin show how water and land can be used sustainably even in a context of rapid population growth.

22.5.2018

Climate change and land grabbing: The example of the Mekong region

A CDE research project in the Mekong region shows how land grabbing and deforestation are linked, and why this matters for global efforts to address climate change.