THE sand dunes in Paoay, Ilocos Norte are a sight to behold. When standing in the middle of the sand dunes, one can easily imagine being in the Sahara or maybe on Frank Herbert's imaginary planet, Arrakis: nothing but sand as far as the eye can see. Movies have been shot in the sand dunes, and it's a popular tourist attraction. But what if most of the world would be as empty of water, vegetation and life as the Paoay sand dunes?

While the Philippines is unlikely to turn into desert in the traditional meaning of the word, much land is facing various degrees of degradation. The Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Soils and Water Management in 2018 estimated that about 37 percent of the total land area of the Philippines is in some stage of degradation (Philippines Land Degradation Neutrality Target Setting Program, June 2018). The bureau identified factors or drivers that contribute to land degradation: land conversion, more roads and cemented areas, population pressure, illegal logging, typhoons, imbalanced fertilization of soil and mining, among others.

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