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Healthy land is a prerequisite for sustainable development and human well-being. With high levels of biodiversity and provision of critical ecosystem services, rangelands support 50% of the world's livestock and over 2 billion people. Rangeland degradation thus represents a major global challenge with severe negative impacts on biodiversity, climate change, and water and food security, affecting the livelihoods of millions of people. In the drylands of East Africa, these challenges are particularly acute. Halting rangeland degradation and restoring degraded land is thus essential in safeguarding ecosystem services and ensuring human well-being. Understanding the dynamics and patterns of rangeland degradation is critical for guiding restoration efforts to achieve positive and sustainable outcomes. Here, we present results from systematic assessments of soil and land health conducted across contrasting rangeland landscapes in East Africa using the Land Degradation Surveillance Framework (LDSF). We conducted assessments of vegetation diversity, with an average of 15 perennial grass species per 100 km2 LDSF site. The results indicate contrasting land degradation dynamics among and within the different sites. We applied Earth Observation in combination with field and lab data collected using the LDSF to produce high-accuracy predictive maps of different biophysical indicators, including soil organic carbon and soil erosion. The maps of soil and land health indicators showed clear spatial patterns across the landscapes. These results demonstrate the importance of simultaneously assessing multiple indicators of soil and land health and their interactions. We also present results from our work in four 'Livestock Cafés' in the cross-