Lok Sabha Question No. 2660 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-17
Subject: Schemes to Change Desert into Green Areas
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Smt. Mahima Kumari Mewar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2660

TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.03.2025

## Schemes to Change Desert into Green Areas

2660.   SMT. MAHIMA KUMARI MEWAR:

Will  the  Minister  of  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND  CLIMATE  CHANGE  be  pleased  to state:

- (a)   whether the policy based efforts are being made by the Government to transform the  deserts into green areas in the country;
- (b)  if  so,  the  detail  of  the  efforts  made  to  improve  desert  areas  in  the  country  including Rajasthan, State-wise;
- (c) whether the Government has taken steps to get the support of local institutions/individuals/ group of individuals for the developments of desert area; and
- (d)  if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

- (a) to (d) The Government has undertaken a number of  policy based measures to combat land degradation  and  desertification,  promote  afforestation,  improve  soil  health,  conserve water, and ensuring the overall sustainability of desert regions, such as ;
- (i) Publication  of  Desertification  and  Land  Degradation  Atlas  of  India,  by  Space Applications Centre (SAC) Indian Space Research Organisation, Ahmedabad, which provides the state-wise  extent of land degradation and desertification in India. The Atlas by providing important data and technical inputs, serves as an important tool in planning  and  implementation  of  schemes  aimed  at  restoration  of  land.  An  online portal  has  also  been  developed  with  the  help  of  Space  Application  Centre  (SAC), Ahmedabad  for  correlation  of  degraded  area  of  land  with  the  processes  causing degradation.
- (ii) Setting up of a Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Land Management (CoE-SLM) set up at the Indian Council for Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) Dehradun to engage and enable parties at international, national and local levels in addressing land degradation related issues with the ultimate goal of achieving land degradation neutrality  (LDN). It  also  aims  at  enhanced  South-South  Cooperation,  knowledge sharing,  promotion  of  best  practices,  sharing  of  India's  experiences  with  cost-
- effective  and  sustainable  land  management  strategies  and  developing  ideas  for transformative projects and programs and capacity building.
- (iii) Research  by  ICFRE  -  Arid  Forest  Research  Institute  (ICFRE-AFRI),  Jodhpur,  in forestry to develop technologies aimed at increasing vegetative cover and conserving biodiversity in the hot arid and semi-arid regions of India.
- (iv) At  the  United  Nations  Framework  Convention  to  Climate  Change  (UNFCCC) Conference  of  the  Paris  (COP),  2015  in  Paris,  India  joined  the  voluntary  Bonn Challenge and now it has pledged to restore 26 million hectares of degraded forest land by 2030..
- (v) Implementation  of  Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchayee  Yojana  (PMKSY)  which contributes  to  desertification  control  by  improving  water  availability  in  arid  and semi-arid regions, by encouraging water conservation practices and efficient irrigation  with  focus  on  providing  irrigation  solutions,  especially  in  arid  and  semiarid regions like Rajasthan, to improve  agricultural productivity and  support afforestation efforts.

In  addition  to  these,  several  initiatives  for  increasing  and  improving  green  cover  and thereby  combating  desertification  are  being  taken  up  through  various  afforestation  related schemes implemented by the Government of India. The Ministry also supports the States/UTs for various afforestation activities through Centrally Sponsored Scheme for conservation, development and promotion of forests under its major schemes namely, National Mission for a Green  India  (GIM)  and  Forest  Fire  Protection  &  Management  Scheme  (FFPM).  Further  the Compensatory Afforestation fund under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA)  contributes to afforestation and consequently combatting desertification. In addition to these, State Governments also implement various schemes for tree plantation/afforestation  to  address  land  degradation.  These  programmes  and  schemes  are implemented through the line departments, local bodies, Joint Forest management Committees etc., thus ensuring  support  of  local institutions/individuals/ group  of  individuals in this endeavour. Combatting desertification and land degradation is a dynamic process as the interplay between  environmental  conditions,  human  activities,  and  the  impacts  of  land  degradation  are fluid  and  hence  require  regular  monitoring  and  evaluation  of  relevant  adaptation,  mitigation strategies and the support of all stakeholders

*****