I. Overview of Drylands and Desertification
- Definition: Drylands are regions where average annual precipitation is at least 1.5 times lower than potential evapotranspiration, often identified by an Aridity Index (AI) below 0.65.
- Global Extent: They cover 41% of the Earth’s land surface and are home to 2 billion people, most of whom live below the poverty line.
- Desertification Drivers:
- Natural: Low precipitation, intense droughts, and heat waves.
- Anthropogenic: Excessive woodfuel collection, unplanned grazing, inappropriate agricultural practices, and weak land-governance.
- Key Challenges: Approximately 10–20% of drylands are already degraded, creating a "vicious circle" of poverty and environmental decline.
II. Major International Frameworks
- UNCCD (UN Convention to Combat Desertification): Focuses on reaching a "land-degradation neutral world" by 2030.
- Bonn Challenge: A global goal to restore 150 million hectares of degraded land by 2020.
- Aichi Target 15 (CBD): Aims to restore at least 15% of degraded ecosystems to enhance resilience and carbon stocks.
- Desertification and Drought Day 2026: Hosted by Kenya under the theme “Rangelands: Recognize. Respect. Restore.”.
III. Strategic Global Initiative: The Great Green Wall (GGW)
- Origin: Flagship initiative of the African Union and UNCCD.
- Initial vs. Current Goal: Transitioned from a simple "wall of trees" to an integrated landscape approach supporting agro-silvo-pastoral production.
- 2030 Objectives:
- Restore 100 million hectares of degraded land.
- Sequester 250 million tons of carbon.
- Create 10 million jobs and improve food security for 20 million people.
- Accelerator Strategy (2021): France led a new strategy pledging $19.6 billion for the period 2021–2025 to scale up implementation.
IV. Sustainable Land Management (SLM) & Restoration Strategies
1. Technical Measures
- Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR): A cost-effective method protecting degraded land from pressures to accelerate natural succession.
- Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR): Actively managing native trees sprouting from stumps or roots on farms.
- Water-Harvesting Techniques:
- Zaï: Planting pits filled with biodegradable waste to improve soil structure and water retention.
- Vallerani System: A mechanical ploughing method creating microbasins for rainwater infiltration.
- Half-Moons: Semi-circular basins used to reduce runoff and promote seedling growth.
- Integrated Fire Management: Moving from reactive fire control to long-term strategies addressing structural causes of fire.
2. Governance and Social Pillars
- Land Tenure: Secure rights to access and manage resources are fundamental for long-term investment in restoration.
- Empowering Women: Women are most vulnerable to land degradation. Securing their rights to own, inherit, and manage land increases productivity and investment in health and education.
- Indigenous Knowledge (IK): Traditional forecasting (observing animal behaviour, plant phenology, and celestial patterns) often detects drought earlier than formal systems.
V. Critical Case Studies for Mains Answers
- India (Haryana): Hill Resource Management Societies (HRMS) used a Joint Forest Management (JFM) approach to protect catchments and share irrigation water equally.
- Niger: FMNR reversed forest decline across 5 million hectares, increasing cereal yields by 500,000 tonnes annually.
- South Africa: The "Working for Water" programme created 27.5 million person-days of employment by removing invasive alien plants that threatened water security.
- China (Loess Plateau): Integrated watershed management tripled household incomes and reduced sediment flow to the Yellow River by 100 million tonnes per year.
- Mali: Mobilised $6.8 million through trade mechanisms to restore gum arabic (Acacia senegal) landscapes, linking environmental health to economic gain.
VI. Recommendations for Policymakers
- Multisectoral Platforms: Needed to coordinate between forestry, agriculture, and trade ministries to avoid contradictory policies.
- Seed Supply Chains: Strengthening national and regional tree-seed centres to ensure a supply of genetically appropriate native seeds.
- Monitoring: Use of tools like Collect Earth (satellite data analysis) and the Rome Promise (global call to improve dryland assessment) to create robust baselines for progress.
By the year 2030, what is the specific target set by the Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative for restoring degraded land?
A) 50 million hectares
B) 75 million hectares
C) 100 million hectares
D) 150 million hectares
Answer: C
The Great Green Wall initiative originally focused on:
A) Building dams across Africa
B) A continuous strip of trees across the Sahel
C) Developing smart cities
D) Expanding industrial zones
Answer: B
The Great Green Wall initiative has evolved into:
A) A mining development project
B) A desert tourism initiative
C) An integrated landscape management approach
D) A river-linking project
Answer: C
Which country hosts the global observance of Desertification and Drought Day 2026?
A) Ethiopia
B) Kenya
C) South Africa
D) Nigeria
Answer: B
Desertification and Drought Day is observed annually on:
A) June 5
B) June 8
C) June 17
D) June 22
Answer: C
According to FAO guidelines, drylands cover approximately what percentage of Earth's land surface?
A) 21%
B) 31%
C) 41%
D) 51%
Answer: C
Approximately how many people depend on drylands globally?
A) 500 million
B) 1 billion
C) 2 billion
D) 3 billion
Answer: C
Plant phenology refers to:
A) Soil nutrient analysis
B) Study of groundwater
C) Timing of biological events in plants
D) Forest mapping techniques
Answer: C
Which of the following is a plant phenology indicator of drought?
A) Increased river flow
B) Changes in flowering and leaf shedding
C) Volcanic activity
D) Glacier expansion
Answer: B
The "Working for Water" programme is associated with:
A) Kenya
B) India
C) Australia
D) South Africa
Answer: D
The primary objective of South Africa's "Working for Water" programme is:
A) Constructing reservoirs
B) Removing invasive alien plants
C) Expanding irrigation canals
D) Promoting urban forestry
Answer: B
The "Working for Water" programme simultaneously helps in:
A) Tourism development
B) Space research
C) Water conservation and job creation
D) Military modernization
Answer: C
The FAO-hosted Pastoralist Knowledge Hub mainly serves to:
A) Promote mining activities
B) Connect pastoralists with policymakers
C) Develop highways
D) Monitor ocean resources
Answer: B
Pastoralists are primarily associated with:
A) Fishing activities
B) Livestock rearing
C) Manufacturing industries
D) Banking services
Answer: B
According to UNAMA, Afghanistan is vulnerable to drought because of:
A) Excessive rainfall
B) High greenhouse gas emissions
C) Glacier loss and environmental degradation
D) Volcanic eruptions
Answer: C
Which international summit accelerated support for the Great Green Wall in 2021?
A) Earth Summit
B) One Planet Summit
C) Rio+20 Summit
D) COP15 Summit
Answer: B
How much financing was pledged for the Great Green Wall during 2021–2025?
A) $9.6 billion
B) $12.5 billion
C) $19.6 billion
D) $25 billion
Answer: C
Transhumance refers to:
A) Desert afforestation
B) Seasonal migration of livestock
C) Water harvesting technique
D) Soil conservation practice
Answer: B
Transhumance helps in:
A) Overgrazing
B) Deforestation
C) Rangeland recovery
D) Industrial expansion
Answer: C
Which organization hosts the Pastoralist Knowledge Hub?
A) UNEP
B) FAO
C) UNESCO
D) WMO
Answer: B
The 2026 Desertification and Drought Day theme focuses on:
A) Forests
B) Wetlands
C) Oceans
D) Rangelands
Answer: D
Drylands are particularly vulnerable to:
A) Excessive snowfall
B) Desertification and drought
C) Tsunamis
D) Earthquakes
Answer: B
Which restoration technique encourages natural regrowth of native vegetation?
A) Urbanization
B) Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR)
C) Industrial afforestation
D) Deep mining
Answer: B
The Great Green Wall is mainly implemented across:
A) Europe
B) South America
C) The Sahel region of Africa
D) Southeast Asia
Answer: C
One major benefit of land restoration is:
A) Increased desert expansion
B) Carbon sequestration
C) Soil erosion acceleration
D) Biodiversity loss
Answer: B
Indigenous knowledge contributes to drought resilience by:
A) Ignoring environmental signals
B) Observing natural indicators
C) Promoting deforestation
D) Increasing overgrazing
Answer: B
Catchment management primarily aims to:
A) Protect water resources
B) Expand mining operations
C) Increase urban sprawl
D) Reduce biodiversity
Answer: A
Which ecosystem service is enhanced through dryland restoration?
A) Water regulation
B) Plastic production
C) Coal extraction
D) Urban traffic control
Answer: A
The Great Green Wall initiative supports:
A) Ecosystem resilience
B) Desert expansion
C) Biodiversity decline
D) Land degradation
Answer: A
Restoration of degraded drylands contributes directly to:
A) Sustainable Development Goals
B) Nuclear energy production
C) Space exploration
D) Ocean mining
Answer: A
India's Role in Global Efforts to Combat Desertification and Restore Degraded Land
India plays a significant and growing role in global efforts to combat desertification and restore degraded land, characterized by high-level international commitments, ambitious national targets, and a focus on south-south cooperation.
I. Major Global Commitments and Leadership
- Bonn Challenge Ambition: India was one of the first countries in Asia to join the Bonn Challenge. Originally pledging to restore 21 million hectares by 2030, Prime Minister Narendra Modi increased this target to 26 million hectares during the UNCCD COP 14 in 2019.
- Progress Under Bonn Challenge: As of June 2026, India has already brought 21.76 million hectares under restoration efforts.
- UNCCD COP 14 Host: India hosted the 14th Conference of Parties to the UNCCD in 2019, resulting in the Delhi Declaration, which focused on land restoration, climate resilience, and gender equality.
- Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN): India has committed to achieving LDN by 2030, a goal aligned with Target 15.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
II. Key National Restoration Initiatives
India utilizes a mix of large-scale government schemes and community-based models:
- Joint Forest Management (JFM): Covering 81.53 million hectares, JFM is one of the world's largest community-based forest management systems, involving local villagers in restoration and protection.
- Green India Mission (GIM): Aimed at increasing forest cover and improving ecosystem services, GIM has undertaken greening activities across approximately 1.7 lakh hectares.
- CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation): This fund manages resources from diverted forest lands for restoration, completing afforestation over roughly 3.20 lakh hectares in the past five years.
- Aravalli Green Wall Initiative: An ambitious landscape-level restoration program that has surpassed its annual targets as of the 2025-26 financial year.
- Watershed Development: Over 27 million hectares have been treated under the Watershed Development Component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY).
III. International Cooperation & Technical Support
India actively shares its technical expertise and experiences with the global community:
- Center of Excellence for Sustainable Land Management (CoE-SLM): Established at the Indian Council for Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) in Dehradun, this center aims to facilitate south-south cooperation, share India's cost-effective SLM strategies, and provide capacity building for other UNCCD member countries.
- Space & Satellite Technology: India uses satellite data (e.g., platforms like Bhuvan, VEDAS, and Yuktdhara) for science-based planning and monitoring and has offered to help other countries develop restoration strategies using these technologies.
- Global Water Action Agenda: At UNCCD COP 14, India called for the creation of a global water agenda, acknowledging that addressing land degradation is inextricably linked to managing water scarcity.
IV. Socio-Economic Contributions
- Employment Generation: Restoration activities in India have generated approximately 1.22 billion person-days of employment, demonstrating the link between environmental goals and poverty reduction.
- Traditional Knowledge: India emphasizes the value of its "deep cultural roots" and traditional water-wisdom (e.g., traditional water harvesting structures) as essential components of resilient land systems.
