Focus and efforts on achieving sustainable management of land use are of vital importance, said the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) director general Ashwani Kumar. He was speaking at a seminar on inclusive cooperation for achieving land degradation neutrality at the Forest Research Institute here to mark the occasion of World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD).
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, the ICFRE, DG also laid special emphasis on ensuring the sustainable management of land use while also stressing that the excessive use of chemical fertiliser and insecticides have a detrimental effect on the health of the soil. Invited panelists, former head of the institute’s soil and land reclamation division, MN Jha, ICFRE ADG TP Singh and head of the Ecology, Climate Change and Forest Influence division of FRI HB Vashistha and expressed their views on the occasion.
They pointed out that land degradation neutrality is also one of the key targets of the 15th Sustainable Development Goal which states “By 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world”.
Singh said that land degradation neutrality calls for active participation and cooperation of all major stakeholders. With about 32 per cent India’s total land area under degradation and 25 per cent land undergoing desertification, the importance of the issue should not be taken lightly, he added.
Vasistha spoke on eco-restoration of degraded land for achieving land degradation neutrality. He elaborated the concept of degradation neutrality and importance of eco-restoration in achieving self-sustainability of degraded land citing examples of eco-restoration works carried out by FRI in different degraded areas.
Expressing her views, the FRI director Savita said that the objective of lDN is to maintain and improve the condition of the land resources. The ICFRE with the support of Global Environment Facility has recently prepared Aligned National Action Programme (NAP) to Combat land Degradation and Desertification and to make the country land degradation neutral by 2030.