On the occasion of Desertification and Drought Day, Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Babul Supriyo on June 17, 2021 released the latest version of “Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India.’
- It has been published by Space Application Centre, ISRO, Ahmedabad.
- The Atlas provides state wise area of degraded lands for the time frame 2018-19. It also provides the change analysis for the duration of 15 years, from 2003-05 to 2018-19.
Desertification and Drought day
- The Desertification and Drought day was commemorated by the Ministry, with an aim to generate large scale awareness towards understanding the key role of land in all environmental and economic concerns, that world, as well as India is facing now-a days.
- The 2021 Desertification and Drought Day on 17 June focused on turning degraded land into healthy land.
- Desertification and Drought Day – known as the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought before 2020 – is observed every year to promote public awareness of international efforts to combat desertification.
- India is striving towards achieving the national commitments of Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) and restoration of 26 Million ha of degraded land by 2030 which focus on sustainable and optimum utilisation of land resources.
