2019 – Posted in: Press Information Bureau

World Day to combat desertification and drought

(Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change)

WHAT

India makes targets for real sustainable development and will lead in combating desertification.

The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is a United Nations observance each June 17.

THEME

“Let’s Grow the Future Together”

HIGHLIGHTS

India will be hosting the fourteenth session of Conference of Parties (COP – 14) from 29th August – 14th September 2019.
About 30% of the country’s total geographical area being affected by land degradation; India has high stakes and stands strongly committed to the Convention.
The Union Minister also unveiled the logo of COP-14.

FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION

A flagship project on enhancing capacity on forest landscape restoration (FLR) and Bonn Challenge in India has been launched.
It is a pilot phase project of 3.5 years implemented in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Nagaland, and Karnataka.
MoEFCC and IUCN aim to develop and adopt best practices and monitoring protocols for the Indian states and build capacity within the five pilot states on FLR and Bonn Challenge.

CAUSES OF DESERTIFICATION IN INDIA

Water erosion
Wind erosion
Human-made settlements
Vegetation degradation
Salinity

MEASURES TO REDUCE LAND DEGRADATION

Various schemes have been launched by the Government of India such as:

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)
Soil Health Card Scheme
Soil Health Management Scheme
Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojna (PKSY)
Per Drop More Crop

FACTS RELATED TO DESERTIFICATION

ISRO identifies 21 drought-prone districts that have more than half of their areas under desertification.
More than 80 percent of the country’s degraded land lies in nine states: Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana.

BONN CHALLENGE

The Bonn Challenge is a global effort to bring 150 million hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded land into restoration by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030.

India joined the voluntary Bonn Challenge pledge to bring into restoration 13 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by the year 2020, an additional 8 million hectares by 2030.

India was the signatory to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Paris on June 17, 1994.

3 RIO CONVENTION

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

UNCCD

It was established in 1994.
It is a legally binding international agreement.
In 1994, the United Nations General Assembly declared 17 June the “World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought” to promote public awareness and the implementation of the UNCCD in the desertification affected countries.

DESERTIFICATION

Desertification is the degradation of land in various areas like arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid.
It is mainly caused by climatic changes and human activities.

Source: PIB

You can follow us on LinkedIn and on Instagram (Diligent IAS) for more updates related to IAS Preparation/ Study Material, Subscribe to our Facebook Page and Youtube Channel- Diligent IAS