It was early-1989 when the Aims and Scope of Land Degradation & Rehabilitation were released, the first issue appearing in summer 1989. Study of land degradation has progressed, clarifying some issues and raising fresh questions. Over the last seven years the Eastern Bloc has undergone perestroika and glasnost and the People's Republic of China has become more open, making it clear to see that land degradation is a worldwide phenomenon, occurring in non-socialist and socialist, rich and poor countries. Interest in the relationship between environment and development by the world' administrators, business people and public has markedly increased since 1989. Some of this interest can be attributed to the 1992 (Rio de Janeiro) World Conference on Environment and Development, the 'Earth Summit', together with its associated publicity and publications, notably the action programme Agenda 21 that set targets, suggested priorities and responsibilities for the twenty-first century . Agenda 21 stressed the need for far more concern about environmental degradation. The spread of the concept of sustainable development has also helped to increase concern for environmentally sound development.
Land Degradation & Rehabilitation was established to promote the recognition, monitoring and study of causes and impacts, control, mitigation and restoration of terrestrial environmental degradation. In 1989 the first call for papers anticipated the 1992 Rio 'Earth Summit', noting that 'A major challenge in the coming decades is to learn how interactions between development and environment can be better managed to increase prospects for ecologically and socially sustainable improvements in human wellbeing.'
Although Land Degradation & Rehabilitation has attracted a wide range of papers dealing with many aspects of land degradation, it was felt that greater invitation should be given to those interested in ecological sustainability, development-environment interactions, sustainable land management and sustainable development. Therefore it was decided to modify the title, substituting 'Development' for 'Rehabilitation'. There has been relatively little re-orientation of Aims and Scope, we still invite papers on rehabilitation and restoration and our focus on maintaining the quality of terrestrial environments remains. The causes, and consequences of land degradation and its control and mitigation are the concern of scientists, social scientists, economists, administrators, planners and many others. The establishment of social institutions to manage terrestrial environments, finding ways of motivating people, better environmental planning and management, and funding the maintenance of sustainable landuse or restoration of degraded land are additional fields we seek to encourage. Hopefully, the title change will attract papers in these areas without discouraging more narrow systematic interests such as land degradation research , land degradation monitoring, physical or biological studies relevant to land degradation and rehabilitation or restoration methods.
Land degradation takes place through processes which can be wholly or partly natural, often the chain-of-causation is complex or difficult to establish. Responses to land degradation, can be antidotal or corrective, the former address symptoms, the latter seek to correct causes. observed that failure to adequately trace the causes of land degradation was a major reason control is often poor. Land Degradation & Development seeks to ensure, that as far as possible, what we publish will give an accurate insight into the nature and extent of land degradation and responses to it. Whenever possible the journal will ensure authors do not make rash assumptions or cite dubious sources.
The inclusion of 'development' in our title generated considerable debate between Board members, because for some, especially in the physical or life sciences, it is a vague concept. Development cannot be precisely defined, efforts to do so reflect the current values of those making the definition. It is probably best to simply accept that, in relating with each other and the environment, humans engage in a