Land Degradation and Desertification

Context: The government is planning to bring convergence between the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) to restore degraded land and reverse desertification in India.

• According to the Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas 2021, at least 30% of India’s total geographical area is under the category of “degraded land”.

Land degradation and Desertification :

• It is a temporary or permanent degeneration of productivity of land due to physical, chemical or biological factors.
• Desertification is a form of land degradation by which fertile land becomes desert.
• It leads to the advancement of sand from the desert to the adjoining regions.

Causes of Land Degradation and Desertification:

• Land degradation is caused by multiple forces, including extreme weather conditions, particularly drought.
• It is also caused by human activities that pollute or degrade the quality of soils and land utility.

Impact of Land degradation and Desertification:

Environmental Impact:

• Land degradation and Desertification results in problems like soil erosion, loss of natural nutrients, water-logging and salinity and contamination of ground and surface water.
• Loss of Fertility due to the use of various scientific inputs like irrigation, fertilizers, pesticides etc. Unscientific cropping practices are also causing harm.
• Waterlogging happens when the water table gets saturated for various reasons—over-irrigation, seepage from canals, inadequate drainage etc.

Potential Impacts on Human Health:

• It negatively affects food production, livelihoods, and the production and provision of other ecosystem goods and services.
• higher threats of malnutrition from reduced food and water supplies; more water- and food-borne diseases that result from poor hygiene and a lack of clean water.

Global Efforts to  Combating Land Degradation:

United Nations Convention on Combating Desertification (UNCCD):

• Established in 1994 aim to protect and restore our land and ensure a safer, just, and more sustainable future.
• The UNCCD is the only legally binding framework set up to address desertification and the effects of drought.
• There are 197 Parties to the Convention, including 196 country Parties and the European Union.
• The Convention is based on the principles of participation, partnership and decentralization.

Bonn Challenge:

• It is a global goal to bring 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes into restoration by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030.
• Launched by the Government of Germany and IUCN in 2011, the Challenge surpassed the 150-million-hectare milestone for pledges in 2017.

Great Green Wall Initiative:

• Launched in 2007 by the African Union, being implemented across 22 African countries
• Aim: To restore the continent’s degraded landscapes and transform millions of lives in the Sahel.
• Objective: To restore 100 million hectares of currently degraded land; sequester 250 million tons of carbon and create 10 million green jobs by 2030.

Indian Initiatives:

National level land degradation mapping:

• It is taken up by ISRO along with partner institutions, under the Natural Resources Census (NRC) mission of DOS/ISRO, towards generating information on land degradation at 1:50,000 scale, using 23m resolution (multi-temporal & multi-spectral) IRS data.

Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India:

• Published by: Space Application Centre (SAC), ISRO, Ahmedabad.
• Provides a state wise area of degraded lands for the time frame 2018-19.
• Provides the change analysis for the duration of 15 years, from 2003-05 to 2018-19.

United Nations Convention on Combating Desertification (UNCCD)

• India is a signatory to the UNCCD.
• India hosted the 14th session of Conference of Parties (COP 14) of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in September 2019.
• India is striving towards achieving the national commitments of Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) and restoration of 26 million ha of degraded land by 2030 which focus on sustainable and optimum utilisation of land resources.
• Nodal Ministry for the Implementation: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC)

Bonn Challenge:

• At the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) 2015 in Paris, India joined the voluntary Bonn Challenge and pledged to bring into restoration 13 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2020, and an additional 8 million hectares by 2030.

Flagship Schemes:

• Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana
• Soil Health Card Scheme

Suggestion for Convergence: Using MGNREGS Funds

• Presently, activities such as ridge area treatment, drainage line treatment, soil and moisture conservation, rainwater harvesting, nursery raising, afforestation, horticulture and pasture development are done under the Department of Land Resources, the Ministry of Rural Development.
• The Union government now wants the States to undertake these activities using MGNREGS funds, which go towards both material and wage components.
• As of now, there is Central allocation of Rs.8,134 crore for developing 4.95 million hectares.
• The Rural Development Ministry is now hoping that by making use of the MGNREGS, which for the financial year 2022-23 has a budget of ?73,000 crore, the government can scale up the area to be covered.
• By the Ministry’s own estimate, a convergence with the MGNREGS could help take up treatment of about 30% more land than feasible with the current scheme size.

Way Forward:

• Combating desertification and land degradation and mitigating the effects of drought will secure long-term socio-economic benefits for people living in the drylands and reduce their vulnerability to climate change.
• Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN)—with conservation, sustainable use, and restoration as its three pillars—provides an effective framework.
• Creating an enabling environment for LDN can help policymakers and planners to navigate social, economic, and environmental trade-offs so food security, energy needs, land tenure, gender equality, access to clean water, and biodiversity are considered—and addressed—together.

Source: The Hindu

Previous Year Question

Q.1) Consider the following statements:

1. “The Climate Group” is an international non-profit organization that drives climate action by building large networks and runs them.
2. The International Energy Agency in partnership with the Climate Group launched a global initiative “EP100”.
3. EP100 brings together leading companies committed to driving innovation in energy efficiency and increasing competitiveness while delivering on emission reduction goals.
4. Some Indian companies are members of EP100.
5. The International Energy Agency is the Secretariat to the “Under2 Coalition”.

Which of the statements given above are correct?  (2022)

1. 1, 2, 4 and 5
2. 1, 3 and 4 only
3. 2, 3 and 5 only
4. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

Q.2) “If rainforests and tropical forests are the lungs of the Earth, then surely wetlands function as its kidneys.” Which one of the following functions of wetlands best reflects the above statement?             (2022)

1. The water cycle in wetlands involves surface runoff, subsoil percolation and evaporation.
2. Algae form the nutrient base upon which fish, crustaceans, molluscs, birds, reptiles and mammals thrive.
3. Wetlands play a vital role in maintaining sedimentation balance and soil stabilization.
4. Aquatic plants absorb heavy metals and excess nutrients.