India working to restore 2.6 Cr hectare degraded land by 2030: PM

    While delivering a keynote address virtually at the United Nations Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India working towards restoring 2.6 crore hectares of degraded land by 2030

    India is working towards restoring 2.6 crore hectares of degraded land by 2030 and assisting fellow developing countries to develop land-restoration strategies, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a high-level UN dialogue on Monday.

    Asserting that land degradation affects over two-thirds of the world today, Modi said if it is left unchecked, it will erode the very foundations of our societies, economies, food security, health, safety and quality of life.

    PM Modi made these remarks in his virtual address at the UN “High-Level Dialogue on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought” at the United Nations.

    “Therefore, we have to reduce the tremendous pressure on land and its resources. Clearly, a lot of work lies ahead of us. But we can do it. We can do it together,” he said.

    He said India has taken the lead to highlight land-degradation issues at international forums and cited that the “Delhi Declaration” of 2019 called for better access and stewardship over land and emphasized gender-sensitive transformative projects.