Land Restoration Is an Investment in Food, Water and Livelihoods Environment Minister
The Environment Minister of the Union Bhupender Yadav said on Monday that restoring land should be seen as an investment in food, water in biodiversity and in livelihoods. He said this of seeing it as a cost. He made these comments during the Conference of Parties which is called COP17. This conference is part of the United Nations Convention, to Combat Desertification. It was organized in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Bhupender Yadav participated in a conference of Ministers on financing mechanisms for land restoration. Drought resilience. The group discussed how we need ways to fund the fight against land degradation, desertification and drought.
The minister said that fixing these problems will need money from places not just from government budgets. Bhupender Yadav asked that the government and private companies work together to help drought resilience and restore land.
Bhupender Yadav told us that India fixed 21.76 million hectares of land between 2011 and 2020 citing a progress report on the Bonn Challenge. To Bhupender Yadav, land restoration is a part of building a future and is not just a small task, for the environment.
The Bonn Challenge was launched in 2011 as a global effort to restore land that has been degraded or affected by deforestation The Bonn Challenge has, than 70 countries that have promised to bring back 150 million hectares of land by the year 2020 and the Bonn Challenge also plans to bring back an extra 350 million hectares by the year 2030. India has said that the Bonn Challenge will help India bring back 13 million hectares of land and India also aims to bring back eight million hectares of land by the year 2030.
The minister also talked about how India uses a mix of money to help with climate change, land use, forests, farming and saving nature. This plan is meant to find money to fight land degradation and other environmental troubles.
Bhupender Yadav mentioned the Green Credit Programme as a way that private money helps fix forest land. He said these kinds of plans can bring in money for environmental work so the government does not have to pay for everything alone.
Bhupender Yadav spoke at a meeting for ministers explaining how to pay for land restoration.
Drought resilience is also a focus. Fighting desertification land degradation. Drought is still a very big goal for the UNCCD especially as leaders look for long-term ways to help people and nature.
Bhupender Yadav made it clear that finding money is at the heart of how India handles land restoration. He wants help from governments and private investors. The talks at COP17 will likely focus on how to get money into managing land well and building drought resilience in places that need it most.