Within the framework of the existing concepts of land degradation assessment, the main ideas about its causes and consequences are formulated, methodological provisions for studying the intensity of degradation processes are defined, and specific methods for assessing the economic component of degradation are developed. The problem of economic assessment of land degradation is complicated by differences in understanding of the nature of degradation processes and the role of soils in them. Soil indicators play the most significant rolenin the economic assessment of damage from land degradation. However, this methodology does not actually involve the use of modern concepts of ecosystem services. On the contrary, the methodology of land degradation economics, which uses a wide range of ecosystem services, largely ignores the need to take into account the dynamics of soil properties. The development of a unified methodology will solve many problems, among which an important place is occupied by the need to avoid legally regulated formulaic assessments of degradation.
