To achieve the land degradation neutrality (LDN) goal by 2030, India needs a total overhaul of its policies and programmes governing land. Discuss and suggest what needs to be done to achieve the goal at the earliest

Land, water and agriculture are all State subjects; forest is a Concurrent subject. However, land
degradation assumes national importance because of its overwhelming impact on the economy and
the well-being of all the citizens. India faces a severe problem of land degradation, or soil becoming
unfit for cultivation. About 29% or about 96.4 million hectares are considered degraded.
Land Degradation Neutrality as a concept:
 Land degradation neutrality (LDN) is a condition where further land degradation (loss of
productivity caused by environmental or human factors) is prevented and already degraded land
can be restored.
 LDN has been defined by the Parties to the Convention as:
 “A state whereby the amount and quality of land resources, necessary to support ecosystem
functions and services and enhance food security, remains stable or increases within specified
temporal and spatial scales and ecosystems.”
What are the Benefits of LDN?
 As land is fixed in quantity, there is ever-increasing competition to control land resources and
capitalize on the flows of goods and services from the land.
 LDN represents a paradigm shift in land management policies and practices.
 It is a unique approach that counterbalances the expected loss of productive land with the
recovery of degraded areas.
 This has the potential to cause social and political instability, fueling poverty, conflict and
migration.
How can LDN be Implemented?
 The implementation of LDN requires multi-stakeholder engagement and planning across scales
and sectors, supported by national-scale coordination that utilizes existing local and regional
governance structures.

UNCCD and the UN Environment Programme (UN Environment) came together to mark the
United Nations General Assembly adoption of the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.
 To date, over 120 countries have engaged with the LDN Target Setting Programme and
considerable progress has been made since the 2030 Agenda was adopted in 2015.
India’s initiatives in this direction:
 Recently, India became part of the “Bonn Challenge”, a global effort to bring 150 million
hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded land into restoration by 2020, and 350 million
hectares by 2030.
 India’s pledge is one of the largest in Asia.
 Schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Soil Health Card Scheme, Soil Health
Management Scheme and Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana are seen as prongs to tackle
this land degradation.
 India for the first time hoisted the 14th session of the Conference of Parties (COP-14) of the
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) from September 2 to 13.
Way ahead:
The new UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework is the most comprehensive global commitment to
achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) in order to restore the productivity of vast expanses of
degraded land, improve the livelihoods of more than 1.3 billion people, and reduce the impacts of
drought on vulnerable populations to build.
By sustainably managing land and striving to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality, now and in the
future, not only will the impact of climate change be reduced, but a conflict over natural resources
will be avoided.