World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

Background and Significance

  • 17th June declared as World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought by UNGA in 1994
  • Commemorates adoption of UNCCD - the only legally binding international agreement linking environmental conservation and development to sustainable land management
  • 2026 Theme: "Rangelands: Recognize. Respect. Restore."
  • Aligned with International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP) 2026

International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP 2026)

  • Declared by United Nations, led by FAO and UNCCD
  • Pastoral communities manage over 25% of world's land
  • Supports food security and enhances climate resilience

Understanding Rangelands

What are Rangelands?

  • Vast, open landscapes with natural vegetation: grasslands, shrublands, deserts, and tundras
  • Geographical Scale:
  • Cover 54% of Earth's land surface
  • Contribute nearly 16% of global food production

Extent in India

  • Cover about 1.21 million sq. km
  • Stretch from Thar Desert to Himalayan meadows
  • Nearly 40% of India's land surface used for grazing
  • Grassland area shrank from 18 million hectares to 12 million hectares (2005-2015)
  • Less than 5% of grasslands protected under conservation network

Human and Ecological Significance

  • Support livelihoods of approximately 2 billion people worldwide
  • Primarily indigenous communities and nomadic pastoralists
  • Act as massive carbon sinks
  • Regulate localized water cycles
  • Prevent soil erosion
  • Harbor unique biodiversity adapted to hyper-arid conditions

Rangeland Degradation: A Global Crisis

Scale of At-Risk Land

  • Up to 50% of world's rangelands degraded or facing severe ecological stress

Primary Drivers

  • Inappropriate land-use changes
  • Unscientific agricultural expansion
  • Overgrazing
  • Escalating climate-induced droughts

Socio-Economic Impacts

  • Affects world's poorest populations
  • Triggers acute food and water insecurity
  • Accelerates biodiversity loss
  • Dismantles traditional rural livelihoods

WDC-PMKSY 2.0: India's Watershed Development Initiative

Evolution

  • Started as Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) in 2009-10
  • Amalgamated into PMKSY in 2015-16
  • Continued as WDC-PMKSY 2.0 for 2021-2026

Key Targets and Implementation

  • Physical target: 49.50 lakh hectares
  • Nodal Agency: Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development

Key Objectives

  • Rejuvenating degraded and rainfed lands
  • Restoring ecological balance
  • Enhancing agricultural productivity and groundwater recharge
  • Diversifying farming systems
  • Springshed Rejuvenation: Based on NITI Aayog recommendations, crucial for mountainous regions

Technological Integration

  • Mandatory use of GIS and Remote Sensing for precise planning
  • Convergence in "saturation mode"

Targeted Outcomes

  • Ecological: Reduced soil erosion, enhanced green cover, rising groundwater table
  • Governance: Gram Panchayats take over O&M of created assets
  • Economic: Increased cropping intensity, higher agricultural output, increased household income
  • Resource Governance: Water budgeting and regulatory norms
  • Livelihood Security: Alternate options for landless laborers, artisans, livestock keepers

Desertification in India: Status and Causes

Definition

  • Degradation of land in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas
  • Does NOT mean expansion of existing deserts

Extent

  • 29.7% of India's Total Geographic Area undergoing land degradation
  • Source: Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas (Space Applications Centre, ISRO)

Primary Causes in India

  • Water Erosion: Most significant cause, washing away fertile topsoil (over 10% of total)
  • Vegetal Degradation: Deforestation, overgrazing, shifting cultivation
  • Wind Erosion: Prevalent in Rajasthan and Gujarat
  • Salinity/Alkalinity: Unscientific irrigation and waterlogging

Global Initiatives to Combat Land Degradation

International Efforts

  • Bonn Challenge: Restore 150 million hectares by 2020; 350 million hectares by 2030
  • Great Green Wall: African Union initiative to restore Sahel's degraded landscapes
  • G20 Global Land Initiative (2020): Target 50% reduction in degraded land globally by 2040
  • Gandhinagar Implementation Roadmap (GIR): Adopted under India's G20 Presidency (2023)
  • SDG Target 15.3: Combat desertification, achieve Land Degradation Neutrality by 2030

India's Initiatives

  • UNCCD COP14 (2019): Committed to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030
  • Aravalli Green Wall Project: 5-km eco-buffer zone around Aravalli range; already surpassed annual targets FY 2025-26
  • Desert Development Programme (DDP): Minimize drought effects, control desertification
  • National Mission for a Green India (GIM): Under NAPCC, protect and enhance forest cover

Constitutional and Legal Framework

  • UNCCD (1994): International legally binding agreement
  • SDG 15.3: Land Degradation Neutrality target
  • NAPCC: National Action Plan on Climate Change with GIM mission