{"id":83161,"date":"2026-08-26T18:10:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T12:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=83161"},"modified":"2026-08-26T18:11:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T12:41:04","slug":"unccd-cop17-rangelands-restoration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/26-08-2026\/unccd-cop17-rangelands-restoration","title":{"rendered":"India Calls for Community-Led Restoration of Rangelands at UNCCD CoP17"},"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 has called for a community-led approach to restoring rangelands at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) of the <strong>United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) <\/strong>is being held in<strong> Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia<\/strong>, under the theme <strong>\u201cRestoring Land, Restoring Hope\u201d.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Key discussions at UNCCD COPs focus on setting national targets for<strong> land degradation neutrality (LDN), restoring degraded rangelands and dryland ecosystems, expanding green finance mechanisms, <\/strong>and improving global cross-border data sharing for drought forecasting.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Rangelands: Ecological and Economic Assets<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Rangelands cover <strong>54%<\/strong> of the Earth\u2019s land surface, support<strong> 500 million<\/strong> pastoralists and are home to <strong>a third of the world\u2019s most important<\/strong> biodiversity areas.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They include grasslands, savannas, shrublands and open woodlands and provide food, livelihoods, biodiversity, carbon storage and water-regulation services.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rangelands generate an estimated <strong>$21tn-$47tn<\/strong> in benefits every year but remain largely overlooked in land and climate finance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The restoration returns <strong>$4-$6 for every dollar spent,<\/strong> rising to as much as $36 when wider public benefits such as water supply are counted.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Rethinking the Role of Pastoralism<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Conventional approaches have treated pastoralism and livestock grazing as drivers of land degradation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>However, many <strong>rangeland ecosystems have evolved alongside grazing<\/strong>, and well-managed pastoral systems can maintain biodiversity, nutrient cycling and ecosystem resilience.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Drought, cropland expansion, urbanisation and fragmentation of traditional grazing routes<\/strong> increasingly drive rangeland degradation, rather than pastoralism alone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Financing Gap in Land Restoration<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Land degradation affects up to <strong>40% of the world\u2019s land surface,<\/strong> threatening food security, water availability, biodiversity and livelihoods.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Land restoration<\/strong> requires substantial and sustained investment because degraded land affects agriculture, water security, biodiversity and rural livelihoods.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>However, land restoration has <strong>historically received less financial attention <\/strong>than other climate and development priorities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>At COP17, this financing challenge has emerged as a key issue, particularly for rangelands and pastoral communities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Land Degradation Neutrality aims to ensure that the amount and quality of land resources required to <strong>support ecosystem functions and food security remain stable or improve. <\/strong>Achieving LDN requires\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Avoiding further land degradation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reducing ongoing degradation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Restoring already degraded land.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The focus should increasingly be on<strong> preventing degradation before restoration becomes extremely costly.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Challenges<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Financing gap:<\/strong> Public and private investment remains inadequate compared with the scale of land degradation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Policy gap: <\/strong>Rangelands receive less attention in national climate and restoration strategies than forests.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Knowledge gap: <\/strong>Traditional ecological knowledge is insufficiently integrated into formal restoration planning.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Institutional fragmentation: <\/strong>Land, water, agriculture, livestock, environment and disaster-management policies often operate separately.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Bridge the financing gap:<\/strong> Scale up public finance, blended finance, green bonds and innovative financial mechanisms to mobilise private investment for land restoration and drought resilience.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Prioritise prevention over restoration:<\/strong> Invest in early-warning systems, drought forecasting and anticipatory action because preventing degradation and preparing for drought is more cost-effective than post-disaster relief and large-scale restoration.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mainstream rangelands in climate policies: <\/strong>Include rangelands and pastoralist systems more explicitly in <strong>Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), <\/strong>land-restoration targets and climate-finance frameworks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>UNCCD was <strong>established in 1994, following the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, <\/strong>\u00a0to protect and restore the land and ensure a safer, just, and more sustainable future.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is the <strong>only legally binding framework <\/strong>set up to address desertification and the effects of drought.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is one of the three Rio Conventions, along with the<strong> UNFCCC <\/strong>and <strong>Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There are <strong>197 Parties<\/strong> to the Convention, including 196 country Parties and the <strong>European Union.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Convention&#8217;s<strong> 2018-2030 Strategic Framework<\/strong> is the most comprehensive global commitment to achieve <strong>Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) <\/strong>to restore the productivity of vast expanses of degraded land.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ddnews.gov.in\/en\/india-calls-for-community-led-restoration-of-rangelands-at-unccd-cop17\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>DD News<\/strong><\/a><strong>, <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/agriculture\/combat-desertification-cop17-report-makes-21-tn-47-tn-case-for-investing-in-rangelands-so-why-is-investment-fallin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>DTE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> India has called for a community-led approach to restoring rangelands at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17). <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> About <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> The 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is being held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, under the theme \u201cRestoring Land, Restoring Hope\u201d. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/26-08-2026\/unccd-cop17-rangelands-restoration\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83161","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\/83161","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\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83161"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83163,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83161\/revisions\/83163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}