Land Use Planning for Land Degradation Neutrality: Reflections and Critical Challenges

ABSTRACT Positing that land use planning (LUP) is both a technical and a political endeavor that should predominantly promote the preservation of the land‐based natural capital, the present study aspires to first, constructively problematize the Scientific Conceptual Framework for Land Degradation Neutrality (SCF‐LDN) approach and second, reveal the challenges of integrating LDN into LUP. This paper comprises four sections. The first briefly outlines and appraises the SCF‐LDN approach and the second presents and deepens into the concept of LDN drawing on the broader concept of neutrality. The third section briefly presents LUP and the SCF‐LDN guidance on LUP for LDN, examines how the SCF‐LDN conception and guidance (LDN concerns for short) can be integrated in each stage of the (formal) LUP process, and identifies the main challenges that arise. A small fifth section sets the key question for LUP. The Conclusions recapitulate the discussion, reflect on the need for complementary and/or alternative socio‐politically situated (context‐ and scale‐sensitive) LUP and other processes to preserve the land‐based natural capital and suggest avenues for future research. The main aim of this paper is to show, through an extensive critical review and an in‐depth methodological analysis of the review outcomes, that land degradation neutrality is not as relevant and well justified in a planning context as often assumed, a problem exacerbated by its ambiguous definition. LDN, as a global requirement, can be retained to serve as a special exercise to support global assessments.