World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

News: World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is being observed on June 17.

Facts:

• World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought has been observed since 1995.
• Aim: To spread awareness among people about the cooperation required to combat desertification and the effects of drought.
• Theme: Food. Feed. Fibre. – the links between consumption and land.

Additional Facts:

• Desertification: It is the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas.It is caused primarily by human activities and climatic variations.
• UN Convention to Combat Desertification(UNCCD): It is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management.It was established in 1994.
• Goal 15 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development states our resolve to halt and reverse land degradation.
• Bonn Challenge: It is a voluntary global effort to bring 150 million hectares of deforested and degraded land into restoration by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030.
  • India has pledged to bring into restoration 13 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by the year 2020 and additional 8 million hectares by 2030.