Reiterating India’s commitment to combat land degradation and foster global drought resilience, in seamless alignment with the mandate of CoP-16, the Minister informed that India has adopted a comprehensive approach towards addressing land degradation, building drought resilience, ecosystem restoration and biodiversity enhancement. He said, “In India, the earth is traditionally revered as Mother Earth. Drawing a parallel between the nurturing nature by Mother Earth with that of our own mothers, our Hon’ble Prime Minister has launched a mass-based campaign, ‘Plant for Mother’, through which we have planted more than 1 billion saplings this year. We urge all countries and their citizens to join this unique initiative, which would be the biggest tribute to Mother Earth and would also contribute in addressing issues of land degradation and climate change.”

 

Shri Yadav emphasized that India believes and asserts that Land is not only for human beings and that humans share this planet with other life forms which too have rights over earth’s resources. India’s cultural ethos recognizes this principle and aptly India has taken a lead in launching the International Big Cat Alliance, a multi-country, multi-agency coalition of range countries of big cats. Further, India reaffirms its commitment under the Bonn challenge of restoring 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030, of which more than 22.50 million hectares has already been restored, the Minister stated.

 

Delving deeper into India’s approach sustainable development, Shri Yadav stated, “India believes that land restoration and building drought resilience require community involvement for lasting success and have adopted a “Whole of Government” and “Whole of Society”, approach to restoration of degraded land through the Green India Mission, in which community participation is the backbone. India advocates the adoption of environment friendly life style and usage of traditional knowledge in all spheres of life. India affirms that healthy land serves as a critical foundation for regional stability. By mitigating the drivers of forced migration, stable communities, and progressive economies can be created.”

 

Further, the Minister said that India asserts that Knowledge sharing and Capacity building through partnerships enhance drought preparedness and resilience. Hence, government, agencies, industry, communities etc. should come together and take up every opportunity for collaboration for strengthening drought early warning systems, promoting drought-resilient agriculture, and creating sustainable livelihoods. For water conservation a very special initiative namely Amrit Sarovar has been launched under which water retention structures in every district of the country are developed and rejuvenated. We are ready to share our experience with all. Under the Green Credit Programme degraded land parcels are identified and restored ecologically with financial support from various entities, including private and public sectors, he added.