{"id":31203,"date":"2024-10-22T18:29:34","date_gmt":"2024-10-22T12:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=31203"},"modified":"2024-10-22T18:29:35","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T12:59:35","slug":"need-for-nature-restoration-law-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/22-10-2024\/need-for-nature-restoration-law-in-india","title":{"rendered":"Need for Nature Restoration Law in India"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India needs a comprehensive nature restoration law, inspired by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/13-07-2023\/daily-current-affairs-13-07-2023\"><strong>European Union (EU) Nature Restoration Law<\/strong><\/a>, to address its growing environmental crises and land degradation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Nature Restoration Law<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The law aims to <strong>repair the 80% of European habitats<\/strong> that are in poor condition by <strong>2050.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There will be <strong>legally binding targets<\/strong> for every Member State.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The aim is to cover at least <strong>20% of the EU\u2019s land and sea areas by 2030<\/strong> with nature restoration measures, and eventually extend these to all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Need for Restoration Law in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Land Degradation: <\/strong>According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)\u2019s Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas, nearly<strong> 97.85 million hectares (29.7%) of India\u2019s<\/strong> total geographical area underwent land degradation in<strong> 2018-19.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Global Commitments:<\/strong> India has committed to restoring <strong>26 million<\/strong> hectares of degraded land by 2030 as part of the<strong> Bonn Challenge<\/strong> and the UN&#8217;s Land Degradation Neutrality goals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Climate Change Vulnerability:<\/strong> Degraded land exacerbates the impacts of climate change, making regions more prone to droughts, floods, and other climate-related disasters.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Benefits of restoration<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>According to the <strong>World Economic Forum<\/strong>, nature restoration could globally generate economic returns of up to <strong>$10 trillion annually by 2030.\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In India, restoring degraded lands would enhance agricultural productivity, improve water security, and create millions of jobs, particularly in rural areas.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>SDG Goal 15: <\/strong>The law could also help India meet its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Goal 15, which calls for the sustainable management of forests and combating desertification.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Climate resilience:<\/strong> Restoring ecosystems can also mitigate the effects of climate change, which exacerbates land degradation. Degraded land loses its capacity to absorb carbon dioxide, further contributing to global warming.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>International agreements: <\/strong>By restoring its ecosystems, India can enhance its carbon sinks and meet its commitments under the <strong>Paris Agreement.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Initiatives taken by India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Green India Mission: <\/strong>It aims to increase forest and tree cover by 5 million hectares and improve the quality of forest cover in another 5 million hectares.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana: <\/strong>It aims to improve irrigation coverage and enhance water use efficiency in agriculture.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It focuses on \u201cmore crop per drop,\u201d through measures like rainwater harvesting, watershed management, and micro-irrigation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Integrated Watershed Management Programme:<\/strong> It is the second-largest watershed programme in the world. It seeks to restore ecological balance by harnessing, conserving, and developing degraded natural resources like soil, vegetation, and water.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Afforestation Programme: <\/strong>It supports the afforestation, reforestation, and eco-restoration of degraded forests and non-forest lands.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Restoration targets:<\/strong> India should aim to restore 20% of its degraded land by 2030, with a goal of restoring all ecosystems by 2050. This includes forests, wetlands, rivers, agricultural lands, and urban green spaces.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Wetland restoration:<\/strong> Critical wetlands such as the Sundarbans and Chilika Lake support biodiversity and carbon sequestration. A law could target restoring <strong>30% of degraded wetlands by 2030.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Biodiversity in agriculture: <\/strong>Promoting agroforestry and sustainable practices could restore farmlands. Indicators such as the butterfly or bird index used in the EU, could track progress.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Urban green spaces: <\/strong>India should ensure no net loss of green spaces, promoting urban forests in cities such as Bengaluru and Delhi, which face heat islands and declining air quality.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Concluding remark<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The EU\u2019s Nature Restoration Law sets an important precedent for countries worldwide.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Given the alarming levels of land degradation and biodiversity loss in India, such a law would not only help India restore its degraded ecosystems but also contribute to its socio-economic development and climate resilience.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/the-case-for-a-nature-restoration-law-in-india\/article68780219.ece#:~:text=The%20EU&#039;s%20Nature%20Restoration%20Law,economic%20develo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India needs a comprehensive nature restoration law, inspired by the European Union (EU) Nature Restoration Law, to address its growing environmental crises and land degradation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31203"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31204,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31203\/revisions\/31204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}