India restores over 21 million hectares of degraded land in 10 years

• India restored more than 21 million hectares of degraded and deforested land between 2011 and 2020, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said.

• The land restoration has generated approximately 1.22 billion person-days of employment in the country.

• He was speaking during a side event organised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Mongolia.

Key points highlighted by the minister:

• Land restoration is an established national priority for India and is integral to the country’s efforts on sustainable land management, biodiversity conservation, climate action and rural development.

• India is among the major global pledgers to the Bonn Challenge. 

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

• In 2015, India made an initial commitment to restore degraded and deforested land, which was subsequently enhanced to 26 million hectares by 2030. 

• These figures demonstrate that restoration can deliver both environmental and socio-economic outcomes by reviving degraded landscapes while creating employment and supporting rural livelihoods.

• The Green India Mission is strengthening forest and tree cover, ecosystem services and climate resilience. 

• The National Mission for a Green India or the commonly called Green India Mission (GIM), is one of the eight Missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). It was launched in February 2014. It aims at protecting, restoring and enhancing India’s diminishing forest cover and responding to climate change through adaptation and mitigation measures.

• The Nagar Van Yojana for urban greening extends the restoration agenda to urban and peri-urban landscapes through urban forestry and green spaces. 

• National Afforestation and Eco-development Board is implementing Nagar Van Yojana (NVY) since 2020 which envisages developing 1000 Nagar Vans/Vatikas in the country during the period of 2020-21 to 2026-27.