Land Degradation and Desertification

Desertification & Land degradation

 Desertification is the process by which the biological productivity of drylands (arid and semiarid lands) is reduced due to natural or manmade factors. 

• Doesn’t merely mean the expansion of deserts.

Land degradation:  a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land. 

• The only difference is that desertification can be a natural process, however, degradation of land is seen from the perspective of anthropogenic interventions.
• Land degradation affects over 2/3rd of the world today. 

 Causes of Desertification/Land Degradation:

• Man-Made Causes:
• Overgrazing: It reduces the usefulness, productivity, and biodiversity of the land. India lost 31% of grasslands between 2005 and 2015.
• Deforestation: releases carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere contributing to the greenhouse effect.
• Farming Practices: 
• Slash and burn agriculture exposes state to soil erosion hazards
• Heavy tilling and over-irrigation disturbs mineral composition of the soil.
• Urbanization: the demand for resources increases leaving lands that easily succumb to desertification.
• Climate Change: It may exacerbate desertification through alteration of spatial and temporal patterns in temperature, rainfall, solar radiation and winds.
• Overexploitation of Resources: Increasing demand for land resources due to issues like overpopulation leaves land vulnerable to desertification.

1. Planting without considering the local ecology : It can result in more damage.  
2. Encroachment of forest land: encroachment of nearly 1.48 MHa of forest and grazing in nearly 75% of forest area is also linked to the livelihood of local communities.  
3. JFMC don’t function effectively: a review of their functionality and performance is essential to make them more dynamic and effective to scale up their involvement.

• Natural Processes of degradation: (covered by Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India)
• Vegetation degradation.
• Natural Disasters: like Floods, Droughts, landslides results into displacement of soil.
• Water erosion: It results into Badland Topography which itself is an initial stage of desertification.
• Wind Erosion: Sand encroachment by wind reduces fertility of the soil making the land susceptible to desertification.
• Water logging: 
• Increased Salinity/Alkalinity
• Mass Movement
• Frost heaving & Frost shattering

 Impacts of Desertification

• Environmental impacts:
  • Destruction of Vegetation
  • Soil infertility & erosion
  • Increased vulnerability to natural disasters
  • Land degradation
  • Water pollution
  • Loss of biodiversity & extinction of species
• Economical impacts:
  • Increased occurrences of natural hazards like, Floods, Landslides, Droughts, Threatens agricultural productivity.
  • Repercussive impacts increase poverty.
  • Overall productivity of the economy decreases
• Social Impacts:
  • Rise of famine, poverty, social conflicts
  • Forces mass migrations i.e. environmental migration.
  • Food Security Issues
• Political Impacts: Repercussive impacts also lead to political instability

Status of Desertification in India

• 96 million hectares or close to 29% of India’s area is undergoing degradation.
• According to the Government’s data recently presented to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), India lost 31%, or 5.65 million hectares (mha), of grassland area in a decade.
• The extent of degraded land in India is over 105 million hectares or about 32% of India’s areas.
• India has witnessed an increase in the level of desertification in 26 of 29 states between 2003-05 and 2011-13.
• More than 80% of the country’s degraded land lies in just nine states – Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Odisha, MP and Telangana. 

[No UP/Bihar][All of West India except Kerala]

Measures taken by India to Curb Desertification

• Command Area Development – 1974: to improve the irrigation potential utilization and to optimize agricultural production through efficient water management. – Under M/o Water resources.
• Integrated Watershed Management Programme – 1990s: to restore ecological balance by harnessing, conserving and developing degraded natural resources. 
  • It was named as “Haryali Guidelines” in 2003.
  • Now subsumed under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (2015-20) implemented by NITI Ayog.
• Desert Development Programme -1995: to minimize the adverse effect of drought and to rejuvenate the natural resource base of the identified desert areas. By M/o RD.
  • It was launched for hot desert areas of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and cold desert areas of Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Member in 1994 and ratified in 1996.
• Soil Conservation in the Catchment of River Valley Projects and Flood Prone Rivers -2000: It aims to improve the physical conditions and productivity status of alkali soils for restoring optimum crop production.  M/o A& FW.
• Under M/o EFCC
  • National Afforestation Programme – 2000: for the afforestation of degraded forest lands 
  • National Action Programme to Combat Desertification -2001: to address issues of increasing desertification and to take appropriate actions.
  • National Mission on Green India – 2014: Part of National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC): to protect, restore and enhance India’s diminishing forest cover with a deadline of 10 years.
• Fodder and Feed Development Scheme – 2010: It aims to improve degraded grassland and also the vegetation cover of problematic soils like saline, acidic and heavy soil. M/o Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Diaries.
• Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India: released by ISRO in 2016. Combating desertification and land degradation is one of the thrust areas covered by it.
• Forest Development initiatives: 
  • India joined the Bonn Challenge with a pledge to restore 21 MHA of degraded and deforested land which was later revised to 26 MHA to be restored by 2030.
  • Bringing 9.8 million hectares since 2011 under restoration is an achievement
  • Creation of Joint forest management committees(JFMC) under the Forest policy. More than 1,18,213 JFMCs involving around 20 million people manage over 25 MHA of forest area.

 Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN): a state whereby the amount and quality of land resources, necessary to support ecosystem functions and services and enhance food security, remains stable or increases within specified temporal and spatial scales and ecosystems. 

• Three global indicators of LDN:
  • Trends in land cover change (LCC): Indicating more immediate changes in land use and vegetation
  • Land productivity dynamics (LPD) measured as net primary productivity (NPP): Indicating relatively rapid responses of ecosystem function
  • Carbon stocks measured as soil organic carbon (SOC): It comprises the remains of plants & animals in the soil at various stages of decomposition, along with the microbial biomass and several by-products of complex biotic metabolic processes. Factors affecting soil carbon level:
    • Temperature: Decomposition occurs rapidly in tropical areas: half of SOC is converted to CO2.
    • Soil Moisture & water saturation: greater biomass production, which provides more residues, and thus more potential food for soil biota.
    • Soil Texture: Soil organic matter tends to increase as the clay content increases as: 
• Stronger bonds of clay particles & organic matter retard the decomposition process. 
• Soils with higher clay content increase the potential for aggregate formation.

• Salinity and Acidity: Salinity, toxicity and extremes in soil pH (acid or alkaline) result in poor biomass production and, thus in reduced additions of organic matter to the soil.
• Vegetation and biomass production: The rate of soil organic matter accumulation depends largely on the quantity and quality of organic matter input.
• Steps Taken:
• 1st global assessment of land degradation Neutrality(LDN) by 2030.

• Creation of LDN fund.
• Strategy: Avoid, Reduce & reverse.

1. UNCCD’s Committee on Science and Technology release a report which emphasises the importance of soil organic carbon (SOC) in preventing land degradation and desertification.
2. The Delhi Declaration, adopted at the 14th CoP to UNCCD in 2019, called for better access and stewardship of land and emphasised gender sensitive transformative projects. 
3. Forest Addition: In India over the last 10 years, around 3 million hectares of forest cover has been added, enhancing the combined forest cover to almost one-fourth of the country’s total area.

 Ways to achieve land Degradation neutrality:

• Organic farming: To prevent the overuse of fertilizers and pesticides.
• Preventing soil erosion: By replacing flood irrigation by micro-irrigation network, preventing overuse of ground water and techniques like contour ploughing and planting trees..
• Solid waste management: Building a circular economy to recycle everything so that it does not pollutes the grounds.
• Effluent waste management: Sewage discharge and industrial waste discharge in the open degrades the land.
• Monitoring soil health: through satellite imagery and lab testing of soil. Soil Health card scheme can be useful in this regard.
• Assured irrigation: So that farmers don’t have tendency to use groundwater.
• Research: in the causes of desertification and critical areas which need attention.
• Afforestation & reclaiming degraded land: India’ aim to create a carbon sink of equivalent to 2.5 to 3 Giga tonnes is a commendable effort.
• Limited construction activities in critical habitats: The construction activities in the areas such as Himalayas and western ghats can set up a chain reaction.

• Eco Forestry made to be regular
• Raise awareness about Desertification

Conclusion: 

• 2021-2030 as UN decade on ecosystem restoration.

• ‘Virtuous cycle’: Within a decade, the global economy could create close to 400 million new green jobs, generating over $10 trillion in annual business value.”
• “Bonn Challenge”, a global effort to bring 150 million hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded land into restoration by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030. 
• India’s pledge is one of the largest in Asia in this regard. This is in line with the UNCCD’s  1st global assessment of land degradation Neutrality(LDN) by 2030.
• SDG-15: “Protect the planet from degradation, including through sustainable consumption and production.”
• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), 1994: the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management.
  • The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought: 17th June.
• Great Green Wall: Initiative by Global Environment Facility (GEF), where eleven countries in Sahel-Saharan Africa have focused efforts to fight against land degradation and revive native plant life to the landscape.
• India has also not signed the Declaration on Forests & Land Use at the Glasgow-COP26, to halt deforestation & land degradation by 2030.