Land Degradation and Restoration

• Context (IE): World Environment Day was celebrated on June 5, 2024, with the theme ‘Land restoration, desertification, and drought resilience’ hosted by Saudi Arabia.
• Land restoration plays a vital role in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) and is essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Land degradation

• It is a negative trend in land conditions caused by direct or indirect human-induced processes.
• Long-term reduction or loss of: Biological productivity, ecological integrity or value to humans.
• It is caused by including processes arising from human activities and habitation patterns such as
  • Soil erosion caused by wind and/or water;
  • Deterioration of the physical, chemical and biological or economic properties of soil;
  • Long-term loss of natural vegetation.

Causes of land degradation and desertification

• Unsustainable agricultural practices like extensive cropping of agricultural land, shifting cultivation without adequate recovery and excessive fertiliser use.
• Conversion of land for various uses like cutting forests for using lands for various purposes and unplanned urbanisation.
• Deforestation & loss of vegetative cover, including overgrazing, excessive fuelwood collection, unsustainable forest management practices, and forest fires.
• Frequent Droughts and Land Degradation, including due to the absence of vegetative cover, can exacerbate drought effects and impact the hydrological regime.
• Unsustainable Water Management, such as poor & inefficient irrigation practices and over-abstraction of groundwater.

Impacts of land degradation and desertification

• Impact on Climate Change: Land degradation reduces the amount of carbon dioxide that is absorbed and consequently leads to a rise in emissions.
• Threat to Food & Water Security: Land degradation impacts the global food and commodity supply chains, and altered cropping patterns further unsustainable pressure on land.
• Impact on Biodiversity: Land degradation impacts the biodiversity of many land ecosystems caused by habitat degradation.

Land Restoration

• It is ecological process of restoring a natural & safe landscape for humans, wildlife & plant communities.
• This process protects our ecosystems, creates economic development, helps prevent natural disasters such as floods, and increases soil productivity and food supplies.

Significance of land restoration

• Land Restoration offers numerous benefits, such as preventing land degradation, improving soil fertility, and increasing water retention.
• It also helps conserve biodiversity by providing habitat for plants, animals, and microorganisms, supporting overall ecosystem health.
• Rehabilitating degraded lands can help sequester carbon, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and support global initiatives for climate change mitigation.

Global initiatives to combat land degradation and desertification

• UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD): Established in 1994 to protect and restore land and to address the phenomenon of desertification.
• Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Fund: Set up in 2018 to invest in profit-generating sustainable land management and land restoration projects globally.
• UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration: It aims to prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean.
• International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA): This is a global alliance for a drought-resilient future that aims to mobilise political, technical, and financial capital to enhance drought resilience.

India’s initiatives to combat land degradation and desertification

• India does not have a specific policy for combating desertification. However, many national policies reflect the concern for preventing and reversing land degradation and desertification.
• Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation).
• The National Action Programme to Combat Desertification was prepared in 2001 to take appropriate action to address desertification.
• National Afforestation Programme (NAP) scheme is the ecological restoration of degraded forests
• Integrated Wastelands Development Programme (IWDP) to develop wastelands mainly in non-forest areas by involving local people at every stage of development.
• Desert Development Programme by the Department of Land Resources was introduced in 1977-78 to address land degradation.
• Centre of Excellence at the Indian Council for Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) to engage parties at international, national and local levels in addressing land degradation-related issues.

Recommendations of UNCCD to achieve LDN Targets

• Avoiding new degradation of land by maintaining existing healthy land.
• Reducing existing degradation by adopting sustainable land management practices.
• Ramping up efforts to restore and return degraded lands to a natural or more productive state.​
• Other ‘zero net losses’ techniques include planting trees​, rotating crops​, water retention techniques such as building retention ditches and cut-off drains​, organic manures, and mineral fertilisers. ​
• Local participation can help them gain sustainable livelihoods, leading to long-term success and resilience in land restoration projects.
• As there is no one-size-fits-all approach, it is crucial to apply diverse approaches such as planting native vegetation, establishing protected areas, and adopting agroforestry systems.