The analysis of the costs for action versus inaction in addressing land degradation at national and sub-national (regional and district) levels in Russia showed that the total annual costs of land degradation due to land use and cover change only are about 189 billion USD in 2009 as compared with 2001, i.e. about 23.6 billion USD annually, or about 2 % of Russia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2010. These land use and land cover changes occurred in the area of 130 million ha. The area of arable lands decreased by 25 % during the period of the economic reforms between 1990 and 2009. The total economic value of ecosystem goods and services is estimated to equal about 3700 billion USD in Russia, exceeding the conventional GDP by 3 times. The costs of action against land degradation are lower than the costs of inaction in Russia by 5–6 times over a 30-year horizon. Almost 92 % of the costs of action are made up of the opportunity costs of action. The methodology of the economics of land degradation can be successfully applied in peculiar socioeconomic conditions of Russia, but the lack of harmonization of methods and indicators brings uncertainty to quantitative assessments.
