Desertification in India poses a severe threat to agriculture. It affects biodiversity due to land degradation. This is especially clear in states like Rajasthan and Gujarat. The Indian Space Research Organisation highlights a worrying increase in degraded land. Causes include deforestation, excessive grazing, and poor land use. This degradation disrupts weather patterns and contributes to ecological issues, including the extinction of species. Efforts like the ‘Green Wall’ initiative aim to combat desertification through reforestation. They promote sustainable land practices. These efforts are essential for environmental protection and development. Collective community actions can also enhance green cover, addressing challenges related to urban expansion and ecological balance.
Table of contents
Key Takeaways
- Desertification and land degradation in India threaten agriculture and biodiversity, particularly in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
- The Indian Space Research Organisation reports a concerning increase in degraded land, mostly due to deforestation, grazing, and poor land use.
- Desertification converts fertile areas into barren landscapes, impacting weather patterns and biodiversity significantly.
- Initiatives like the ‘Green Wall’ aim to combat desertification through reforestation and promote sustainable land practices.
- Community plantations can enhance green cover and conserve groundwater amidst urban expansion challenges.
Deserts are regions on Earth where the physical conditions are extremely harsh, making survival a formidable challenge. Deserts can be either hot or cold. Yet, the term typically conjures images of a scorching, barren landscape. People imagine undulating sand dunes and intense dust storms. Camels are often considered symbols of the desert. The focus here is on the hot desert, characterised by pervasive sand, which is gradually but inexorably expanding. As it advances, it swallows up fertile areas already strained by demographic demands. This encroachment is referred to as desertification.
(AI-Picture)
Magnitude of the problem
Invasive desertification clutches barren land with its ferocious scrawny hands and converts them into deserts. It preys on expanding regions of degraded, infertile land. Desertification is a significant danger in several states. Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana each have more than 50% degraded area.
(a) ISRO Atlas
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) pointed out an increase in land degradation. This was highlighted in its ‘Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India’ released in 2016. The increase is 1.87 Mha (0.56%). As per the atlas, between 2011 and 2013, out of the total 328.72 million hectares (Mha) geographical area of the country, 96.40 Mha (29.32%) is under land degradation while it was 93.53 Mha (28.76%) from 2003 to 2005. It sounds insignificant but is consternating and warrants attention. (VEDAS)
Threats, causes and aftereffects
(a) Threats
Desertification poses a significant threat to productivity by transforming fertile land into desert. This process detrimentally impacts agriculture and hinders sustainable development. The resulting barren landscapes impair biodiversity, seasonal cycles, and weather patterns.
(b) Causes
Denudation of land is a long but sure way leading to land degradation and desertification. Major factors that augment denudation are:
- Depleting forest cover
- Haphazard land use
- Excessive grazing
Felling trees and clearing forests for developmental works cause serious damage. Illicit felling harms the ecologically fragile forest ecosystem. Excessive grazing strips off topsoil. Hoofs of animals loosen the topsoil. It causes the uprooting of grasses. The topsoil washes away by wind or water currents. This causes the land to become parched and unproductive. It becomes prone to desertification. Waning of topsoil by even a few inches causes the land to become degraded.
(c) After effects
Denudation leads to a series of problems including a disturbed weather cycle, a recurrent feature detrimental to life and property. Devoid of life, denuded land can’t hold water and is poor in nutrient absorption becomes unproductive. It loses the ability to trap carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a major part of Greenhouse gases (GHG) responsible for the rise of environmental temperature. It leads to a vicious cycle. Perennial floods, droughts, and rising temperatures have serious side effects. They impact biodiversity and the economy. The Hindu reported that four species of fauna and 18 species of flora have become extinct, adversely affecting the bio-clock. Extinction and regeneration are persistent phenomena in an evolutionary trend. Nonetheless, humans’ irresponsible acts are imposing extinction. This is inviting ‘Holocene Extinction’.
(AI generated)
Forests and rivers are important
“Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky, we fell them down and turn them into paper, That we may record our emptiness.
– Khalil Gibran
Forests, rivers, lakes, oceans, mountains and even deserts have sustainable qualities. Varieties of flora and fauna exist in these areas, which form an ecosystem. Forest is not a mere conglomerate of trees and twiners on a patch of land. It is a vibrant entity that takes a long time to develop. Likewise, aquatic or desert bodies are important. They sustain life by establishing a complex food web. In the Indian ethos, forests and rivers are treated with utmost reverence since antediluvian. . In the holy scriptures, a tree has been equated with “Brahma”, the Supreme Soul and rivers are pious. They are the backbone of the economy. An urge to save the forest is neither rhetoric nor emotional but it is the necessity of time.
(AI generated)
Community plantations for green cover
Forests should not be equated with plantations. The loss of forests is hard to compensate for. Contrary to tree plantations that are taken up systematically and artificially, forests are organic and primordial. Plantations undoubtedly help increase the green cover, but they do not instantly fill the void of forests. Nevertheless, planting new saplings and their care is the right step in the right direction.
Addressing the concern
A few words on community plantation are essential to underline its importance. With increasing urban expansion, land is shrinking. Houses are compressing into small dwellings with frugal or no scope for planting trees. Community plantation emerges as a solution to it. Residents of a colony join together and take up a plantation in a community open space or local park. The residents, feeling attached to saplings, would take care of them. This helps in more than one way. Besides providing cosy green surroundings, it helps increase the green cover and conserve groundwater.
Green walls: A viable and effective solution
The adverse effects of desertification and degradation attracted the world’s attention. In 1994 United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was established. The Conference of Parties (COP) with 197 member countries was made supreme decision-making body of UNCCD. The decisions of COP are legally binding on the member countries. The fourteenth summit, COP14 was held in New Delhi. The summit ended on 13 September 2019. The participating countries adopted the ‘Delhi Declaration’. They expressed their commitment to the restoration of ecosystems. They also committed to recovering 26 Mha of degraded land in India. Addressing the summit, Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi raised the concern. He stated that climate change was causing various forms of land degradation. Desertification and land degradation are the outcome of forest depletion.
The government’s initiative to create a ‘Green Wall’ is a welcome step. It aims to increase the green cover and curb desertification. This effort is worth appreciating.
Photo by Author
Last but Not Least
Creating wind barriers as a thick plantation, can check the desert’s eastward progress. This approach achieves the daunting task of desert management. The green cover needs to be restored and created, including the degraded Aravali region. An idea to develop a ‘Green Wall’ is the replication of ‘The Great Green Wall’ of Africa. In India, the ‘Green Wall’ would be 1400 Km long and 05 Km wide. It would stretch from Porbandar to Panipat, covering the entire Aravali range and beyond. Once completed, it will halt the spread of the desert and mitigate desertification and land degradation effectively. Additionally, it will help the restoration.
Forests and wildlife are concurrent subjects under the Constitution of India. While the Central government has a predominant influence over the States, their participation is inherent. The ‘Green Wall’ initiative is set to further the broader interests of the nation and its citizens. India is a vast country hosting 18% of the global population. The nation faces challenges in developing infrastructure, agriculture, housing, sanitation, education, and healthcare. This exerts immense pressure on precious forests. To counter the advancing desert and protect millions from its adverse effects, plantation activities and proper land management are crucial. Curbing illegal activities and planting new trees are key steps to alleviate this issue.
Further interesting reads:
-END-
Leave a Reply