Knowledge Nugget: Green India Mission – what does it tell us about India’s fight against land degradation that UPSC aspirants must know

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav released the revised document for 2021-2030 period at Jodhpur at an event marking the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. In this context, let’s know about the Green India Mission (GIM) and understand land degradation and desertification.

Key Takeaways :

1. The National Mission for a Green India or GIM was launched in 2014 as one of the eight missions under India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). Its main objective is to combat climate change by increasing forest and tree cover, and the ecological restoration of degraded ecosystems and forests.

2. It also aims to improve the livelihoods of communities dependent on forest produce. One of the core objectives of the mission was to increase forest and tree cover on 5 million hectares and improve the quality of forest cover on another 5 million hectares.

3. The activities under GIM are concentrated in states based on mapping of ecological vulnerability, potential for sequestration (the process by which plants and trees store carbon using photosynthesis), forest and land degradation, and restoration potential.

4. In the revised GIM plan, a central focus will be on the restoration and saturation of vulnerable landscapes through regionally conducive best practices. It will include area and landscape-specific restoration activities in three important mountain ranges – the Aravallis, the Western Ghats, and the Indian Himalayas, along with the mangrove ecosystems. For example, GIM interventions will be synced with the Centre’s recently launched Aravalli Green Wall project. 

5.  The revised mission document also projected, based on estimates of the Forest Survey of India (FSI), that India could achieve a carbon sink of 3.39 billion tonnes, from the combination of all restoration activities. This will require an increase in forest and tree cover over an estimated 24.7 million hectares.

With the revamped GIM emphasizing restoration and saturation of vulnerable landscapes, it’s also important to understand, what is land degradation, and what are its key drivers?

 Land degradation and its causes

1. According to the Convention on Combating Desertification-

Land degradation means reduction or loss in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas of the biological or economic productivity and complexity of rainfed cropland, irrigated cropland, or range, pasture, forest and woodlands resulting from land uses or from a process or combination of processes, including processes arising from human activities and habitation patterns such as: soil erosion caused by wind and/or water; deterioration of the physical, chemical and biological or economic properties of the soil; long-term loss of natural vegetation.

2. Amitabh Sinha writes– “A variety of factors, both natural and human-induced, are known to be affecting the productivity of land, and making them desert-like. Increasing populations and the resultant rise in demand for food and water, feed for cattle, and a wide variety of ecosystem services these offer, have prompted human beings to clear forests, use chemicals, cultivate multiple crops, and over-exploit groundwater. This has affected both the health and productivity of the land.

Natural processes such as rising global temperatures increase the frequency and intensity of droughts, and changing weather patterns have put further pressure on the land.”

Land Restoration

1. Land is an essential part of ecosystems. Ensuring healthy and productive land is vital for maintaining natural balance. Land restoration is crucial in this process.

2. According to the United Nations Convention on Combating Desertification (UNCCD)- Land restoration is the ecological process to restore a natural and safe landscape for humans, wildlife, and plant communities.

3. Land restoration paves the way to protect our ecosystems, create economic development, help prevent natural disasters such as floods, and increase soil productivity and food supplies. In short, land restoration is vital if we are to protect the environment, build resilience to drought, and help feed a growing global population.

BEYOND THE NUGGET: India State of Forest Report 2023

1. The 18th biennial State of Forest Report (ISFR-2023) was released by Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav in December last year at the Forest Research Institute in Dehradun. The ISFR is released biennially and involves forest cover mapping of the country using satellite data.

2. India’s green cover has exceeded the 25% threshold with 8,27,357 sq km (25.17%) of the country now under forest (21.76%) and tree (3.41%) cover. Of this, 4,10,175 sq km is classified as dense forests.

3. The net forest cover has increased by 156.41 sq km between 2021 and 2023 taking the geographical area under forest cover to 21.76 per cent, a paltry rise of 0.05 per cent compared to the 2021 assessment. With the increase in the net forest area, the total area under the forest cover is now 7,15,342.61 sq km.

4. There is the sharpest growth in tree cover. It has increased from 2.91% in 2021 to 3.41% in 2023 leading to an increase of 1,285.4 sq km.

5. An assessment of forest cover across the Western Ghats was done for the first time. It showed that the area earmarked as eco-sensitive by the Centre lost 58.22 sq km of forest cover since 2013. Mangrove species have seen a decrease of 7.43 sq km in the country compared to 2021.

Source: ISFR 2023

6. Among states, the maximum rise in forest and tree cover was seen in Chhattisgarh (683.62 sq km), followed by Uttar Pradesh (559.19 sq km), Odisha (558.57 sq km) and Rajasthan (394.46 sq km). On the other hand, the maximum decrease was seen in Madhya Pradesh (612.41 sq km), followed by Karnataka (459.36 sq km), Ladakh (159.26 sq km) and Nagaland (125.22 sq km).

7. Area-wise, the top three states with the largest forest and tree cover are Madhya Pradesh (85,724 sq km) followed by Arunachal Pradesh (67,083 sq km) and Maharashtra (65,383 sq km).

Post Read Questions

(1) What is/are the importance of the ‘ United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification’ ? (UPSC CSE 2016)

1. It aims to promote effective action through innovative national programmes and supportive international partnerships.

2. It has a special/particular focus on South Asia and North Africa regions, and its Secretariat facilitates the allocation of a major portion of financial resources to these regions.

3. It is committed to bottom-up approach, encouraging the participation of local people in combating the desertification.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

(2) Consider the following:

1. Industrial and mining activities

2. Demographic pressure

3. Frequent Droughts

4. Deforestation

How many of the above are the causes of land degradation?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) Only three

(d) All four

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