The problem of land degradation is not new, but never before has it been so widespread or affected the lives of so many people. The need for a global assessment of land degradation was highlighted by the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972. Since then, several attempts have been made to develop methodologies that will allow for systematic assessment and monitoring of global land degradation. Systematic work started in 1975, when FAO and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) collaborated in a study to develop a provisional method for soil degradation. This method was tested, and maps on a scale of 1:5,000,000 were produced for North Africa and the Near East. However, the method proved difficult to apply accurately, so this project was followed by another where the method was revised and refined in an effort to assess and map desertification. Again, problems were encountered because of the complexity of the subject and the lack of usable reliable data. More recently, ISRIC, using a simplified methodology and the assistance of some 250 scientists from around the world, has produced a world map of human induced soil degradation at a scale of approximately 1:10,000,000. Meanwhile, interest has been growing in the problem of nutrient depletion in developing countries and a study has been completed of N, P and K balances in the soils of 38 African countries. Although we still do not have an accurate assessment of global land degradation and no systematic monitoring is yet in place, these innovative studies have provided us with a sound basis for future work and have identified many of the practical problems of measuring land degradation, data collection and analysis that will have to be overcome before more accurate assessment and monitoring can be achieved.