Land restoration not a cost but investment in food, water and livelihood: Environment minister

Land restoration is not an expense, but a strategic investment in food security, water resources, biodiversity, livelihoods, and future resilience, stated Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Monday. The minister addressed this during a Ministerial Dialogue at the 17th Conference of Parties (CoP) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The dialogue focused on 'Innovate Financial Mechanisms for Healthy Land and Drought Resilience'.

At a side event, Yadav highlighted India's significant progress in land restoration, citing the country's second progress report on the Bonn Challenge. From 2011-2020, India restored 21.76 million hectares of degraded land, a key component of its sustainable and resilient development strategy.

For India, restoration is not an isolated effort but a crucial part of long-term development. The Bonn Challenge, launched in 2011, is a global commitment to restore 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes by 2020, with an additional goal of 350 million hectares by 2030. India has pledged to restore 13 million hectares by 2030.

Yadav emphasized that combating desertification, land degradation, and drought on a large scale demands diversified, dependable, and sustained financing sources, in addition to robust public-private partnerships. He also discussed India's blended green-finance framework, which facilitates funding for climate adaptation, sustainable land use, forestry, agriculture, afforestation, and biodiversity conservation.

The Green Credit Programme scheme serves as an illustration of private financing aimed at restoring degraded forest land.