Consultancy Services to Review and Finalize Land Degradation Neutrality Targets with an Action Plan and Integrated Financing Strategy

As a result of unsustainable practices, land in the Republic of Mauritius is rapidly deteriorating and losing its productive capacity. The main drivers of land degradation in Mauritius include rapid urbanization with urban sprawl, land cover change (including conversion from agriculture to other land uses), deforestation in unprotected private forest areas, unsustainable agriculture practices (heavy mechanization), recurring wildfires on grass-covered mountain slopes, and coastal land erosion. In Rodrigues, land degradation is accelerated by land use change, invasive species, unsustainable agriculture practices and overgrazing. Furthermore, climate change-driven droughts, recurrent fires, floods, landslides, sea level rise and saline water intrusion and have worsened land degradation in both Mauritius and Rodrigues. Impacts of land degradation are manifested in a decline in provisioning ecosystems services and land productivity (loss of fertile topsoil, decrease in pasture quality and productivity, increased run-off and sedimentation of dams and lagoons), with an estimated cost to the national economy of US$16 million annually.

The project “Mainstreaming Sustainable Land Management and Biodiversity Conservation in the Republic of Mauritius” seeks to put the Republic of Mauritius on a path to land degradation neutrality by catalysing the transformation of land use planning and management, while building a governance and sustainable production framework based on a landscape approach and optimizing ecosystem services and livelihoods.

The main objectives of this Consultancy are: