Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said India makes targets not under any global pressure but for the country’s real sustainable development, and as in the past, India will play a leadership role and will lead by example in combating desertification.

Speaking on the occasion of World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, he announced that India will host the 14th session of the Conference of Parties (COP-14) from August 29 to September 14.

The minister further highlighted that with about 30 per cent of the country’s total geographical area being affected by land degradation, India has high stakes and stands strongly committed to the convention.

Background

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. At the UNFCC Conference of the Parties (COP) 2015 in Paris, India also joined the voluntary Bonn Challenge pledge to bring into restoration 13 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2020, and an additional 8 million hectares by 2030. India’s pledge is one of the largest in Asia.

The UN has 3 Rio Conventions namely, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Established in 1994, the UNCCD is the only legally binding international agreement linking environment and development issues to the land agenda.

In 1994, the UN General Assembly declared June 17 as World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought to promote public awareness and the implementation of the UNCCD in the desertification affected countries.

Forest landscape restoration

Forest landscape restoration (FLR) is the ongoing process of regaining ecological functionality and enhancing human well-being across deforested or degraded forest landscapes.

FLR is more than just planting trees - it is restoring a whole landscape to meet present and future needs and to offer multiple benefits and land uses over time. It is about…

* Forests because it involves increasing the number and/or health of trees in an area;

* Landscapes because it involves entire watersheds, jurisdictions, or even countries in which many land uses interact; and

* Restoration because it involves bringing back the biological productivity of an area in order to achieve any number of benefits for people and the planet.

* It is long term because it requires a multi-year vision of the ecological functions and benefits to human well-being that restoration will produce, although tangible deliverables such as jobs, income and carbon sequestration begin to flow right away.

While FLR sometimes involves the opportunity to restore large contiguous tracts of degraded or fragmented forest land, the majority of restoration opportunities are found on or adjacent to agricultural or pastoral land. In these situations, restoration must complement and not displace existing land uses; this results in a patchwork or mosaic of different land uses including agriculture, agroforestry systems and improved fallow systems, ecological corridors, areas of forests and woodlands, and river or lakeside plantings to protect waterways.

Principles of FLR

Focus on landscapes: FLR takes place within and across entire landscapes, not individual sites, representing mosaics of interacting land uses and management practices under various tenure and governance systems. It is at this scale that ecological, social and economic priorities can be balanced.

Maintain and enhance natural ecosystems within landscapes: FLR does not lead to the conversion or destruction of natural forests or other ecosystems. It enhances the conservation, recovery and sustainable management of forests and other ecosystems.

Engage stakeholders and support participatory governance: FLR actively engages stakeholders at different scales, including vulnerable groups, in planning and decision-making regarding land use, restoration goals and strategies, implementation methods, benefit sharing, monitoring and review processes.

Tailor to the local context using a variety of approaches: FLR uses a variety of approaches that are adapted to the local social, cultural, economic and ecological values, needs and landscape history. It draws on the latest science and best practices, and traditional and indigenous knowledge, and applies that information in the context of local capacities and existing or new governance structures.

Restore multiple functions for multiple benefits: FLR interventions aim to restore multiple ecological, social and economic functions across a landscape and generate a range of ecosystem goods and services that benefit multiple stakeholder groups.

Manage adaptively for long-term resilience: FLR seeks to enhance the resilience of the landscape and its stakeholders over the medium and long term. Restoration approaches should enhance species and genetic diversity and be adjusted over time to reflect changes in climate and other environmental conditions, knowledge, capacities, stakeholder needs and societal values. As restoration progresses, information from monitoring activities, research and stakeholder guidance should be integrated into management plans.