The land degradation neutrality management enablers, challenges, and benefits for mobilizing private investments in Pakistan

Limited investments in land degradation neutrality (LDN) are causing environmental degradation and are the main barriers to socioeconomic development worldwide. Therefore, it is crucial to meet the target 15.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals to achieve soil neutrality by 2030 at the national level. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study is to find critical enablers, challenges, and benefits of LDN and develop a new administrative management framework for mobilizing private investments according to local financial market conditions. To achieve this research objective, the authors selected 14 degraded districts in four provinces of Pakistan. The data for this study were collected from 63 institutions that were directly or indirectly involved in land degradation risk prevention and management. The research evaluation process comprises a mixed-method approach to infer institutional survey data analysis. The interpretation of the results was based on two important dimensions, including 12 survey statements. From the perspective of LDN management (LDNM) enablers, the government’s long-term vision and strong commitment were validated as top-ranked measures among the six enablers for the implementation of LDN. The development of horizontal and vertical coordination mechanisms for the LDN is the second-most critical enabler. While developing public-private partnership (PPP) policies, procedures and services are perceived as the third most potent enabler. In terms of LDNM challenges and benefits, raising awareness of the LDN concept, capacity development, and LDN market risk assessment are identified as the main challenges. However, developing a green economy, securing social needs, and ensuring ecological sustainability are vital benefits. This study makes theoretical and practical contributions to the field of LDNM. Theoretically, this study contributes to the LDNM framework based on complexity theory by integrating transaction cost logic to execute win-win PPP agreements. Practically, to meet different market conditions, this study suggests three PPP models: special credit lines, risk-sharing facilities, and land protection performance contracts. These inputs will provide insight into what the government needs to develop for land use policy, promote LDN investments, and forge new partnerships between local financial institutions and landscape stakeholders.