India to work towards the restoration of degraded land by 2030

In a press conference addressed by the Union Minister of Environment & Forests, Prakash Javadekar has declared that India aims to restore over 50 lakh hectares of degraded land by the year 2030.

What has happened?

• Union Minister of Environment & Forests Prakash Javadekar has said that over 29% of the total geographical area in the country is degraded and needs restoration.
• He made this declaration on the sidelines of an upcoming conference on combating land desertification.
• India will host the Conference of Parties (COP) 14 of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
• This conference will be held from September 2-13.
• Along with PM Modi, delegates from over 200 countries and more than 100 ministers will participate in this conference.
• The agenda of this conference on land desertification will be land restoration.

What is land degradation?

• Land degradation often occurs due to several factors like land over-exploitation by planting several crops, over-grazing by cattle, over waterlogging and wind erosion.
• Floods have been found responsible to convert good land into bad land.

Other announcements

• India also plans to set up a center of excellence which will study methods to combat desertification of the fertile land.
• This center will be set-up in the premises of the Forest Research Institute in Dehradun and will also investigate the causes of desertification and devise solutions.