New Delhi: Asserting it is mankind’s collective responsibility to reverse the damage to land caused by human activity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said it is “our sacred duty to leave a healthy planet for our future generations”.
Prime Minister Modi said India, in the spirit of South-South cooperation, is assisting fellow developing nations to develop land restoration strategies.
“A Centre of Excellence is being set up in India to promote a scientific approach towards land degradation issues,” he added while delivering a keynote address at the UN “High-Level Dialogue on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought” via video conference.
Terming land as the fundamental building block for supporting all lives and livelihoods, Prime Minister Modi 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,” he said.
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The Prime Minister, who spoke at the opening segment in his capacity as the President of the 14th Session of the Conference of Parties of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), listed the steps taken by India to deal with the land degradation issue.
Stating that India has taken the lead to highlight land degradation issues at international forums, Prime Minister Modi said the 2019 Delhi Declaration called for better access and stewardship over land and emphasised gender-sensitive transformative projects.
The Prime Minister informed around 3 million hectares of forest cover have been added in India over the last 10 years and said this has enhanced the combined forest cover to almost one-fourth of the country's total area.
Prime Minister Modi also conveyed that India is on track to achieve its national commitment of Land degradation neutrality.
Highlighting that India is also working towards restoring 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030, he said this would contribute to India's commitment to achieving an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Giving an example of Banni region in Gujarat’s Rann of Kutch to illustrate how land restoration can start a virtuous cycle of good soil health, increased land productivity, food security and improved livelihoods, Prime Minister Modi said the land restoration in the Banni region was done by developing grasslands, which helped in achieving land degradation neutrality.
The Prime Minister said 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,” he added.