Why is it in the News?

The global economic impact of land degradation on ecosystem services amounts to an estimated $6 trillion annually.

Context:

• Land plays a crucial role across various human endeavors, offering ecological, economic, social, and cultural benefits.
• However, the multi-faceted nature of land is often overlooked in management practices, leading to heightened stress, degradation, and environmental strain.
• Globally, land degradation results in annual losses of ecosystem services estimated at USD 6 trillion.
• The 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), held in New Delhi in 2019, highlighted the widespread challenge of land degradation faced by different nations and emphasized the importance of achieving Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN).

What is Land Degradation?

• Land degradation refers to the deterioration of the quality and productivity of land resources, typically caused by human activities and natural processes.
• It involves the loss of soil fertility, reduction in vegetation cover, depletion of water resources, and overall decline in the capacity of the land to support various ecosystem functions and human activities.
• Land degradation can take various forms, including soil erosion, desertification, deforestation, salinization, and contamination by pollutants.
• It poses significant environmental, economic, and social challenges, impacting agricultural productivity, food security, biodiversity, and the livelihoods of millions of people around the world.
• Addressing land degradation is crucial for sustainable land use, environmental conservation, and the well-being of present and future generations.

What is the Current Status of Land Degradation in India?

• From 2015 to 2019, UNCCD data reported that 30.51 million hectares of India's land had degraded, accounting for 9.45% of the nation's total landmass by 2019, up from 4.42% in 2015.
• During this period, 251.71 million Indians, constituting 18.39% of the population, were exposed to land degradation, with 854.4 million individuals experiencing drought from 2015 to 2018.
• According to the Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India, published by the Space Applications Centre (SAC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the extent of land degradation and desertification in India reached 97.84 million hectares in 2018-19.
• This atlas offers state-wise data on degraded land, aiding in the planning and execution of initiatives aimed at land restoration by providing crucial data and technical insights.

Global Scenario:

• Land degradation exhibits significant regional variations, with Sub-Saharan Africa, Western and Southern Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean witnessing degradation rates surpassing the global average between 2015 and 2019.
• In Eastern and Central Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, over 20% of the total land area faced severe degradation by 2019.
• Since 2015, Sub-Saharan Africa saw its degraded land increase from 6.7% to 14.63%, while Western Asia and Northern Africa experienced a rise from 3.78% to 7.18%.

What are the Different Causes of Land Degradation?

• Deforestation: Driven by population growth and resource demand, deforestation weakens soil structure, making it prone to erosion by wind and water.
  • Deforestation is particularly rampant in areas like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat.
• Mineral Processing: Industries such as limestone grinding and ceramic production release substantial dust, settling in surrounding areas and contributing to land degradation.
• Soil Erosion: Processes like water flow, wind, rainfall, and landslides strip away the fertile topsoil layer, leaving behind less fertile subsoil, and rendering land unsuitable for cultivation and agriculture.
• Overgrazing: Excessive grazing by animals removes grass cover, making soil susceptible to erosion by wind and water.
  • This phenomenon, common in hilly areas like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat, disrupts soil structure and fertility.
• Over-Irrigation: In states like Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, excessive irrigation leads to soil salinity and alkalinity, diminishing its fertility and suitability for agriculture.
• Mining Sites: After mining activities, abandoned sites leave deep scars and harmful materials that degrade the soil, rendering it unsuitable for productive use.
  • Deforestation due to mining in states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha exacerbates land degradation.
• Industrial Effluents: Waste disposal from industries is a significant source of land and water pollution, contributing to land degradation.
• Mining and Developmental Projects: Large-scale clearing of forests for mining and construction projects further accelerates land degradation under the guise of development.
• Commercial Exploitation of Forests: High-value trees and plants are harvested for economic gain, disrupting soil-plant interactions essential for soil stability.
  • Overgrazing, mining, agricultural expansion, floods, and forest fires are key drivers of deforestation, exacerbating land degradation.
• Desertification: Human activities and climate change contribute to desert-like conditions in arid or semi-arid regions, leading to the spread of sand onto fertile agricultural lands, reducing soil fertility, and hampering agricultural productivity.

Challenges in the Management of Land Degradation in India:

• India with only 2.4% of the world’s geographical area and more than 17% of the world's population experiences several land management challenges.
• Arable land in India is around 55% of the total geographical area and forest cover accounts for another 22%.
  • The rest is desert, mountains, etc.
• Around 30% of the total geographical area is degraded land.
• Access to agricultural land continues to be an important livelihood issue as a significant share of the population depends on agriculture for their sustenance.
• Development targets and the demand for land to accommodate the growing population, infrastructure, rapid urbanization, and social, cultural, and environmental aspects are placing unprecedented pressure on land.
  • This is resulting in more competition among farmers and between agriculture and other land resource-based sectors, as well as land use conflicts, escalation of land prices, and changing land rights.
• Across the country, natural areas are being squeezed and ecological functions are being lost.
• Not only does this adversely affect the livelihood opportunities of the people who directly depend on environmental resources, but also the buffering effects of natural ecosystems in the face of disasters such as floods and droughts, temperature rise, and environmental pollution are severely compromised.
• Climate change has brought with it another set of challenges.
• In India, current land management practices are sectoral with each department following its own approach.
  • Land management falls under the purview of State governments.
• Further, cultural land is privately owned and land-use decisions are constitutionally vested with the owner.
• Apart from this administrative complexity, the challenges to adopting and implementing appropriate land management practices in the country include knowledge gaps, a short-term planning bias, a fragmented approach, a lack of action for unforeseen events, and regulatory barriers.

What Steps Need to be Taken for Land Management?

• Set up a Multi-stakeholder Platform: As a critical mechanism to achieving sectoral integration and addressing these challenges, it is imperative to set up a multi-stakeholder platform at the district and sub-district levels to bring together farmers, other land managers, policymakers, civil society organizations, business leaders, and investors under a common platform.
  • Article 243ZD (1) of the Constitution provides for district planning committees to consolidate plans from panchayats and municipalities.
  • This committee may be activated in the direction of preparing a land management plan, covering both agricultural and non-agricultural sectors.
• Landscape Approach: A landscape approach will be useful in this context as it will provide deep insights to assess the potential of land and the scope of allocation and reallocation of land for appropriate uses.
  • This will help with evaluation, negotiation, trade-off, and decision-making.
  • A climate-smart landscape approach will contribute to climate objectives, increased agricultural production, improved local livelihoods, and the conservation of biodiversity.

Government Initiatives to Combat Land Degradation and Desertification in India:

• Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India, published by Space Applications Centre (SAC) Indian Space Research Organisation, Ahmedabad, which provides the extent of land degradation and desertification in India, states that the land degradation and desertification in the country has been estimated to be 97.84 million hectares in 2018-19.
  • It provides state-wise areas of degraded land which is helpful in the planning and implementation of schemes aimed at the restoration of land by providing important data and technical inputs.
• An online portal has been developed with the help of Space Application Center(SAC), Ahmedabad for visualization of degraded areas of land with the processes causing degradation.
• A Centre of Excellence has been envisaged at the Indian Council for Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) Dehradun for enhanced South-South Cooperation.
  • It aims at knowledge sharing, promotion of best practices, sharing India’s experiences with cost-effective and sustainable land management strategies, developing ideas for transformative projects and programs, and capacity building.

Way Forward:

• Advancing Integrated Landscape Management: Despite existing on-ground experiences, there is a lack of systematic institutional support for this approach, highlighting the need for concerted efforts to promote it.
• Embracing the Value of Landscape: Echoing the European Landscape Convention's recognition of landscape as vital for individual and societal well-being, greater emphasis should be placed on understanding and preserving landscapes.
• Recognizing the Role of Sustainable Land Management: Reports like the U.K. Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology's assessment underscore the importance of managing land sustainably for environmental benefits, including addressing climate change, ensuring food security, and mitigating biodiversity loss.
• Parliamentary Action in India: Indian lawmakers can spearhead discussions on the evolving challenges of integrated land management practices and play a pivotal role in crafting policies for long-term sustainability.
• This necessitates the involvement of stakeholders at all levels, fostering collaboration horizontally and vertically across the spectrum.