Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Degraded, sometimes ugly lands, are in many ways the most beautiful.  These so-called ugly lands can help feed the planet while drawing down gigatons of carbon dioxide through the miracle of plant photosynthesis and transforming it into working soil carbon.  

Degraded lands offer solutions to some of the greatest challenges facing the world today:  food, water, climate, biodiversity and security. They provide a place where we can act now at a cost that we can afford - turning liabilities into assets while putting carbon to work and creating jobs in places we need them most.  Restoration of degraded land is an opportunity that can bring communities, landowners, political parties, business and NGOs together and merits bipartisan support.  

Degraded lands are everywhere. Ghosts of abandoned and struggling farms and ranches, highway and energy infrastructure, public rangelands and grasslands, fire and drought ravaged landscapes, fence-lines between communities and refineries, LNG, manufacturing and industrial facilities, warehouse sites, mines, airports, wind and solar farms. Urban landscapes, suburban back yards, city parks, ski areas, golf courses. The list goes on. They are often barren and brown, lacking diverse plants and wildlife, smothered with invasive weeds, stripped of topsoil, compacted by heavy machinery, overgrazed, and impoverished in carbon, nutrients and the essentials of life. Billions of acres of opportunity across the globe.

Food

More productive land with increased yields is necessary to feed our growing population.  Restoring degraded soil to health and delivering higher yielding, nutritious, climate-resilient crops and well-managed grazing can help bring food to the table for the 700 million people who still go to bed hungry every night.

Water

Water demand similarly increases as population increases. Degraded lands often have poor soil structure, with much greater runoff and greater evaporation than healthy soil. Restoration reduces runoff, filters water, improves erosion control and rebuilds soils.    

Climate

As degraded lands are restored, plants draw down CO2 from the atmosphere and store carbon in the soil. Over a 30-year period, 1000 acres of restored degraded land has the potential to drawdown more than 50,000 tons of CO2 and turn it into working carbon stock in the soil. North America alone has hundreds of millions of acres of degraded land.

Biodiversity

As we strip the land of its soil, its plants, its water and its nutrients, we lose the lifeblood of our planet. Regenerated lands provide homes for plants, animals and microbes and enhance biodiversity.

Security

When topsoil is blown and washed away, crops and grasses whither. Families uproot and emigrate. Nations seek out replacement for these precious lost resources and conflicts arise. Sustainable supplies of food and clean water across the globe are a vital underlying condition of national and global security.  

No Silver Bullet

There is no silver bullet to restoring and regenerating land while removing CO2 from the atmosphere. Instead, there is an arsenal: regenerative agriculture, drought and heat resilient crops, managed grazing, soil amendments, invasive species removal, agroforestry. In combination, these solutions can be even more effective. One plus one is greater than two.    

What can be done now?

Begin with the most degraded land – Simply put the land to better use.  Regenerate it to renewed beauty and productivity. Studies have demonstrated that the greater the deficiency of carbon in the soil, the higher the capacity for carbon accrual.  Increased carbon in the soil is accompanied by increased nutrients, microbial activity and soil health.  

Deploy both proven solutions and innovations - Start with the tried and true, like regenerative agriculture, grassland restoration and managed grazing.  Begin immediately. Then, integrate and deploy innovative new technologies and approaches; new soil amendments, more resilient plant traits, lower cost biochar and enhanced rock weathering products, new targeted and precision soil treatments.  

Incentivize Restoration through Effective Policy – Restoring degraded lands to productivity creates jobs and long-term revenue in places where the needs are often greatest.  The effort can be accelerated by fiscal and economic incentives such as restoration and soil health tax credits and grants in the early stages of project life, while streamlining regulatory and permitting requirements. Restoration of degraded land is an opportunity that can bring communities, business and NGOs together and merits bipartisan support.

But Can It Scale?

Yes. The land to make a difference is available now. Degraded land is natural capital of the first order - a new resource that currently is marginal, underserved and undervalued – and that can be put to great service and generate revenue.   We can create a valuable product by putting people and carbon to work to restore soil health– turning liabilities into assets.  

Restoring ugly and degraded land to health creates higher yielding acreage, more food, with more CO2 drawdown from the atmosphere, at an affordable cost, with solutions that scale. Beautiful. Timely. Transformative.