Reassessing the Methodological Approach to Estimate In-Site Costs of Desertification When Empirical Data are not Available

A Ten-Year Review

Abstract

Desertification continues to impose significant economic and ecological costs across arid and semi-arid regions, yet empirical data for estimating in-site losses remain fragmentary or unavailable in most countries. This paper revisits and updates the methodological approach originally developed by Matallo (2013) to estimate the in-site costs of desertification in contexts of limited data availability. The method combines land-use typologies with heuristic cost coefficients, offering a pragmatic framework for preliminary economic assessment where direct valuation is not feasible. In this ten-year review, the original model is recontextualized within contemporary international frameworks — including Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) land degradation monitoring systems, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification’s (UNCCD) Land Degradation Neutrality indicators, and Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) ecosystem valuation methodologies. Despite advances in remote sensing and socio-environmental accounting, the fundamental challenge persists: translating biophysical degradation into economic terms remains a critical barrier for policy design. The updated discussion confirms that heuristic models remain essential tools for bridging the gap between conceptual and operational knowledge. By valuing what can be known and acting within uncertainty, this approach preserves methodological rigor while enabling timely responses to ongoing land degradation processes.