Land Degradation Neutrality: Indian Examples

Discussions around climate change at times ignore soils, even though the major soil-forming factor is the climate (Bhattacharyya et al. 2014). Because land mass is fixed in quantity, there is an ever-increasing competition to control the fixed quantity of land resources in terms of their services for living organisms. This brings huge pressure on carrying capacity of land. The land area is dwindling due to many reasons, particularly due to natural and anthropogenic degradation (Bhattacharyya 2014). Therefore, it is imperative to save our motherland by focusing on land degradation neutrality (LDN), whereby the finite land resources necessary to support ecosystem functions and services and enhance food security remain stable or increase within specified temporal and spatial scales and ecosystems. Since the land and/or soil degradation can cause social problems leading to poverty and malnutrition, the implementation of LDN requires the involvement of multi-stakeholders with adequate support from the national and regional governments.