Preparing to make 2.60 million hectares of land fertile again by 2030: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the forest area in India has increased by more than 30 billion hectares over the past 10 years. He said that because of this, the country’s forest cover has increased to about a quarter of the total area. He said that work is also underway to restore the fertile power of 26 million hectares of land in the country by 2030.

Prime Minister Modi delivered his opening speech at the United Nations High-Level Dialogue on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought via video conference Monday night. The Prime Minister addressed the preliminary session as chair of the 14th session of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Describing land as a fundamental part of life and livelihood, Prime Minister Modi called for reducing undue pressure on land and its resources. The Prime Minister said that we have many tasks ahead of us but that we can do it. Together we can do this.

Informed on the measures taken by India to address the problem of land degradation. He said that India has taken the lead in placing land degradation issues in international forums. The 2019 Delhi Declaration calls for better access to and management of land and emphasizes gender-sensitive transformation projects. Around 3 million hectares of forest area have been added in India in the last 10 years. The Prime Minister said that with this, the combined forest area has become almost a quarter of the total area of ​​the country.

Prime Minister Modi said that India is on track to achieve its national commitment to neutrality on land degradation. The Prime Minister said: “We are also working to restore 26 million hectares of wasteland by 2030. This will contribute to India’s commitment to achieving an additional carbon sink equivalent to between 2.5 and 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide.