Dehradun (The Hawk): The Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Land Management (CoE-SLM), organized a workshop on June 17th, 2023, at Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun to commemorate World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. This year's theme of UNCCD was "Her Land. Her Rights." which focuses on gender equality.
The United Nations General Assembly declared June 17th as the "World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought" in December 1994. In order to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems across the globe, 2021-30 has been declared as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The centre of Excellence on Sustainable Land Management established at ICFRE Dehradun aims to further develop scientific approaches and facilitate the induction of technology on land degradation issues at national and international levels and to promote South-South Cooperation to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality and promote Sustainable Land Management practices. The workshop was inaugurated by Shri C.P. Goyal Director General of Forest and Special Secretary Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India. Shri Goyal in his Inaugural address stressed on achieving land degradation neutrality through problem-solving, strong community involvement and cooperation at all levels. He emphasized to promote public awareness and community participation to strengthen implementation of UNCCD strategies for sustainable land management at various levels. Shri Arun Singh Rawat, Director General, ICFRE in his address highlighted that nearly 25% area degraded globally is affecting 3.2 billion people around the world. Shri Rawat further mentioned that the land resources have undergone degradation and suffered loss due to huge anthropogenic pressure. He suggested gender equality and a common contribution for sustainable land management issues, and support to advance land rights for women and girls around the world. On this occasion the feminine figures of India Smt. Jamuna Tudu (Padma Shri) Jharkhand, Smt Basanti Devi (Padma Shri) Uttarakhand and Smt. Sudha S (IFS), Govt. of Tamil Nadu were felicitated by the Director General ICFRE. The Padma Shri awardees shared their experiences in Conserving Forest of Jharkhand and Revival of Kosi River in Uttarakhand. Smt. Sudha S (IFS) talked about Land use planning and assessment of ecosystem services for landscape restoration. Dr. R.S. Rawat, Scientist, ICFRE shared experience on empowering Women for Scaling up of SLEM Practices in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Dr. Vivek Saxena IFS, talked on Aravalli Mountains and Ecosystem. Dr Archana Chatterjee, from IUCN discussed women's role and contribution in forest landscape restoration. Besides, UNCCD representative Dr. Ishwar Narayanan delivered a talk on Her land: Global Insights and Smt. Shruti Sharma, Former PCCF&HoFF, Govt. of Rajasthan shared her experiences on Eco-restoration and Drought Resilience.
