In India, 176.4 million people were living on degrading agricultural land in 2010 – an increase of 10% in a decade, bringing the share of rural residents who inhabit degraded agricultural land up to 21% of the total rural population. During the same time-period (2000-10), the amount of people living in remote and degrading agricultural areas with limited market access increased by 11%, reaching 16.7 million people which is 2% of India’s rural population. The intensification and expansion of land degradation will harshly affect agricultural productivity, which will jeopardise agricultural livelihoods in the country. The annual cost of land degradation in India is estimated at US$ 15.9 billion which is around 1.3% of the country’s GDP. India became a signatory to the United Nation Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in 1994 and ratified it in 1996.
In India, forest cover is now 21% and protected areas cover around 5% of the country’s total land area. India is one of 17 mega-biodiverse countries in the world. With only 2.4% of the earth’s land area, it accounts for 7-8% of the world’s recorded species. As India is home to around 8% of the world’s biodiversity, which includes many species found nowhere else in the world, the country is committed to achieving the Aichi targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity and is also an active participant in the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol. India’s National Afforestation Programme and a national programme on the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats are core projects aimed at the conservation of land ecosystems. Two specific schemes – Project Tiger and Project Elephant – are being undertaken to conserve two of the country’s most majestic species of animals. |
TARGETS
- By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements.
- By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally.
- 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.
- By 2030, ensure the conservation of mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity, in order to enhance their capacity to provide benefits that are essential for sustainable development.
- Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species.
- Promote fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources and promote appropriate access to such resources, as internationally agreed.
- Take urgent action to end poaching and trafficking of protected species of flora and fauna and address both demand and supply of illegal wildlife products.
- By 2020, introduce measures to prevent the introduction and significantly reduce the impact of invasive alien species on land and water ecosystems and control or eradicate the priority species.
- By 2020, integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts.
- Mobilise and significantly increase financial resources from all sources to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and ecosystems.
- Mobilise significant resources from all sources and at all levels to finance sustainable forest management and provide adequate. incentives to developing countries to advance such management, including for conservation and reforestation.
- Enhance global support for efforts to combat poaching and trafficking of protected species, including by increasing the capacity of local communities to pursue sustainable livelihood opportunities.