INDIA GREENS PARTY
Press Statement
Unchir-Dunktok, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, 17 June 2021: The India Greens Party (iGP) today said biodiversity can be recovered and climate change slowed down if degraded land is turned into healthy land.
In a press statement on the occasion of the Combat Desertification and Drought Day today, the iGP President Suresh Nautiyal said there is an urgent need to turn degraded land into healthy land, which in turn will help biodiversity to recover.
“The process can slow down climate change and will bring economic resilience by creating jobs, raising incomes and increasing food security,” the Green leader pointed out.
The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed every year to promote public awareness of international efforts to combat desertification.
The day is a unique moment to remind everyone that land degradation neutrality is achievable through problem-solving, strong community involvement and co-operation at all levels.
Nearly three quarters of the Earth’s ice-free land has been altered by humans to meet an ever-growing demand for food, raw materials, highways and homes. Avoiding, slowing and reversing the loss of productive land and natural ecosystems now is both urgent and important for a swift recovery from the pandemic like Covid-19 and for guaranteeing the long-term survival of people and the planet.
Desertification is the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. It is caused primarily by human activities and climatic variations. Desertification does not refer to the expansion of existing deserts. It occurs because dryland ecosystems, which cover over one third of the world’s land area, are extremely vulnerable to overexploitation and inappropriate land use. Poverty, political instability, deforestation, overgrazing and bad irrigation practices can all undermine the productivity of the land.
The matter requires even more attention now. When the land degrades and stops being productive, natural spaces deteriorate and transform. Thus, greenhouse gas emissions increase and biodiversity decreases. It also means there are fewer wild spaces to buffer zoonoses, such as COVID-19, and protect us from extreme weather events, such as droughts, floods, and sand and dust storms.
Mr Nautiyal said there is a need to implement the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa (UNCCD) in letter and spirit to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought through national and international action programmes that incorporate long-term strategies.
-Issued by iGP Office Secretary & PS to President, Deepak Dabral.
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(India Greens Party is registered with the Election Commission of India under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Registration Number: 56/476/2018-19/PPS-I, effective from 18/07/2019.)
Registered Office: 104, Vardhman Complex, 1st Floor, LSC, Savita Vihar, Delhi-110092.
National Head Office: GreenDham AnandiChait, IndraBalbhadra Parisar, Unchir-Dunktok, PO-Ghurdauri, Patty-Idwalsyun, Distt-Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, INDIA. PIN-246194.
Email: indiagreensparty@gmail.com Website: https://indiagreensparty.org
