The World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD)-2019 and Indias’ Flagship project
In light of the World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD)-2019 the Union Minister also launched a flagship project on enhancing capacity on forest landscape restoration (FLR) and Bonn Challenge in India, through a pilot phase of 3.5 years implemented in the States of
- Haryana
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Nagaland and
- Karnataka.
Aim of the project
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in partnership with The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), through this flagship project aims to develop and adapt best practices and monitoring protocols for the Indian states and build capacity within the five pilot states on FLR and Bonn Challenge. This will be eventually scaled up across the country through subsequent phases of the project.
About Bonn challenge and India
- The Bonn Challenge is 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.
- At the UNFCC Conference of the Parties (COP) 2015 in Paris, India also joined the voluntary Bonn Challenge pledge to bring into restoration 13 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by the year 2020, and additional 8 million hectares by 2030.
- India’s pledge is one of the largest in Asia.
World Day to Combat Desertification
Background
- The World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD) is observed every year on 17 June to promote public awareness of international efforts to combat desertification.
- The day is a unique moment to remind everyone that land degradation neutrality (LDN) is achievable through problem solving, strong community involvement and co-operation at all levels.
- The Day was declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 1995. Many countries, groups and individuals celebrate and observe WDCD by organizing a variety of outreach activities and awareness raising events.
- To further increase the impact of WDCD, the UNCCD Secretariat invites Country Parties to the Convention, United Nation’s organizations, civil society organizations, international and non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders to draw attention to land issues and educate the public about effective methods of achieving LDN on 17 June.
Rio Conventions of UN
- United Nations has 3 Rio Conventions namely, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
- Established in 1994, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is the only legally binding international agreement linking environment and development issues to the land agenda.
World Day to Combat Desertification
The year 2019 is the 25th anniversary of the Convention and the World Day to Combat Desertification. And the theme of the event is “Let’s Grow the Future Together”. And it is held in Ankar, hosted by the government of Turkey
