An expansive land management policy is overdue

• Land multi-dimensional character of land is often overlooked in land management practices, resulting in excessive stress, land degradation, and environmental draw down.

Key Points

• Globally, the annual losses of ecosystem services due to land degradation has been estimated at $6 trillion.
• The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (COP14) in New Delhi in 2019 specifically discussed the problem of land degradation experienced by different countries and the need to find ways of achieving land degradation neutrality.
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s special report on ‘Climate Change and Land’ (2019) suggested country-level stocktaking of land management practices.
• It also proposed several near- and long-term actions with the thrust on land management options
  • That reduce competition for land with co-benefits and minimum negative impacts on key ecosystem services.
• The Food and Agriculture Organization report, argued that a sense of urgency needs to prevail over a hitherto neglected area of public policy and human welfare

The challenges in India

• India with only 2.4% of the world's geographical area and more than 17% of the world population experiences several land management challenges.
• Arable land in India is around 55% of total geographical area and forest cover accounts for another 22%.
• Around 30% of total geographical area is degraded land.
• Across the country, natural areas are being squeezed and ecological functions being lost.
• Not only does this adversely affect the livelihood opportunities of the people who directly depend on environmental resources and agriculture
  • But also the buffering effects of natural ecosystems in the face of disasters such as floods and droughts,
  • Climate change has brought with it another set of challenges.

land management practices

• In India, current land management practices are sectoral with each department following its own approach.
• Land management falls under the purview of State governments.
• Further, cultural land is privately owned and land-use decisions are constitutionally vested with the owner.
• Apart from this administrative complexity, the challenges to adopt and implement appropriate land management practices in the country include :
  • Knowledge gaps
  • A short-term planning bias
  • A fragmented approach
  • Lack of action for unforeseen events
  • Regulatory barriers.
• It is imperative to set up a multi-stakeholder platform at the district and sub-district levels to bring together farmers, other land managers, policymakers, civil society organisations, business leaders, and investors under a common platform.
• Article 243ZD (1) of the Constitution provides for district planning committees to consolidate plans from panchayats and municipalities.

Conclusion

• Perhaps, India’s parliamentarians can initiate deliberations on the emerging challenges of integrated land management practices
  • Help devise appropriate policies for long-term sustainability by involving all actors across the scale, both horizontal and vertical.