India to restore 26 million hectares of land by 2030, says PM Modi at UN summit

In last 10 years, around 3 million hectares of forest cover added

NEW DELHI, 14 June 2021: Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi during a keynote address at the UN “High-Level Dialogue on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought” has said that by 2030, the country will be India will be working towards restoring 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030.

While speaking at the conference virtually, as the President of the 14th Session of the Conference of Parties of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), PM Modi termed land as the fundamental building block for supporting all lives and livelihoods and called for reduction of the tremendous pressure on land and its resources.

“Clearly, a lot of work lies ahead of us. But we can do it. We can do it together,” PM Modi underlined.

The Prime Minister listed steps taken by India to deal with the land degradation issue and said that India has taken the lead to highlight land degradation issues at international forums. The Delhi Declaration of 2019 called for better access and stewardship over land, and emphasized gender-sensitive transformative projects.

In India, over the last 10 years, around 3 million hectares of forest cover has been added. This has enhanced the combined forest cover to almost one-fourth of the country's total area. The country is on track to achieve its national commitment of Land degradation neutrality, Prime Minister informed.

“We are also working towards restoring 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030. This would contribute to India's commitment to achieve an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent”, Prime Minister stressed.

Prime Minister gave example of the Banni region in Rann of Kutch in Gujarat to illustrate how restoration of land can start a virtuous cycle of good soil health, increased land productivity, food security and improved livelihoods. In Banni region, land restoration was done by developing grasslands, which helped in achieving land degradation neutrality.  It also supports pastoral activities and livelihood by promoting animal husbandry. In the same spirit, we need to devise effective strategies for land restoration while promoting indigenous techniques.

"It is mankind's collective responsibility to reverse the damage to land caused by human activity. It is our sacred duty to leave a healthy planet for our future generations”, the Prime Minister concluded.

In the spirit of South-South cooperation, India is assisting fellow developing countries to develop land restoration strategies. A Centre of Excellence is being set up in India to promote a scientific approach towards land degradation issues.