• According to Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas report by ISRO, nearly 30 % of the country’s total geographical area is undergoing degradation.\

Causes of Land Degradation

Extension of crop cultivation to marginal and low potential lands or to lands vulnerable to natural hazards, improper crop rotations, overuse of agrochemicals, mismanagement of the irrigation system etc. is responsible for deforestation and the expansion of agriculture to less productive lands.Underlying causes are believed to be poverty among agricultural households, land fragmentation, insecure land tenure, open access nature of some resources, and policy and institutional failures

Sustainable land and Ecosystem Management (SLEM) Programme

• It is a joint initiative of the Government of India and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) under the GEF Country partnership Programme (CPP).
• Objective: to promote sustainable land management and use of biodiversity as well as maintain the capacity of ecosystems to deliver goods and services while taking into account climate change
• The Desertification Cell, MoEF is the national executing agency for the SLEM programmatic approach. ICFRE, Dehradun has been designated as the Technical Facilitation organisation for the SLEM programme.

Suggestion to combat land degradation

• Conservation of Land degradation in rangeland (areas that consist predominantly of grasses, grass-like plants, and shrubs - encompass almost half the world’s land surface) through

• Land capability and condition assessments and monitoring.
• Grazing pressure management, Pasture and forage crop improvement, Silvopastoral management, Weed and pest management
• maintaining appropriate fire regimes and the reinstatement or development of local livestock management practices and institutions.

• Combating land degradation resulting from invasive species involves the identification and monitoring of invasion pathways and the adoption of eradication and control measures (mechanical, cultural, biological and chemical).

• Conservation of Land degradation from mining areas include:

• On-site management of mining wastes (soils and water), reclamation of mine site topography and early replacement of topsoil
•  Restoration and rehabilitation measures to recreate functioning grassland, forest, wetland and other ecosystems

• Conservation of Land degradation in wetland include, controlling point and diffuse pollution sources, adopting integrated land and water management strategies and restoring wetland hydrology, biodiversity, and ecosystem functions through passive and active restoration measures, such as constructed wetlands

• Increases farm productivity, shifts towards less land degrading diets and less animal protein from unsustainable sources, and reductions in food loss and waste.

• Coordinated and simultaneous use of diverse policy instruments and responses at the institutional, governance, community and individual levels.

• Recognizing the key role of Land managers, including indigenous peoples and local communities in the design, implementation and evaluation of sustainable land management practices.

• Urban planning, replanting with native species, green infrastructure development, remediation of contaminated and sealed soils (e.g. under asphalt), wastewater treatment and river channel restoration.

• Eliminating perverse incentives that promote degradation – subsidies that reward overproduction, for example – and devising positive incentives that reward the adoption of sustainable land management practices.

Conclusion
Reversal of land degradation is important for countries for not just economic gains but also for the achievement of SDGs and Paris agreement goals. Reduction and reversal of land degradation could mitigate 1/3rd of greenhouse gas by 2030 through soil’s carbon absorption and storage functions.