Resource information
The protection and revival of degraded and deforested land is the need of the hour. In order to tackle the issues that arise as a consequence of degradation and deforestation, principles of forest landscape restoration are being globally promoted. The Bonn Challenge is a global effort to bring 150 million hectares of deforested and degraded land into restoration by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030. The government of India made a Bonn Challenge pledge to bring under restoration 13 million hectares of degraded land by 2020 and an additional 8 million hectares by 2030. This report highlights the progress the country has made towards the pledge. Data was collected from government agencies, private companies and non-governmental organisations on their restoration efforts. Although not an exhaustive list, the data reveals patterns and provides a glimpse into the country’s different initiatives towards restoration. India has already brought an area of 9.8 million hectares under restoration since 2011. Of this, 94.4% are contributed by government agencies, while the surveyed NGOs and private companies contributed 3.6% and 2% respectively. Government schemes are often implemented with a bottom-up joint forest management approach, with local communities playing a key role. Private companies and non-governmental organisations may operate at smaller scales, yet have the expertise at their disposal that can influence the success of these restoration efforts. The case studies that the report presents have been hand picked and showcase some of the best practices on restoration from across the country. Ranging from government funded joint forest management committees to private companies and non-governmental organisations, they may vary in the details of their approach, yet are similar in many fundamental aspects and are good examples that can and should be upscaled in other restoration programmes. The case studies cover restoration efforts from across the States of Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Odisha. The efforts in restoration by the Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC) from Nagaland has been featured as a best practice. NGOs featured as best practices include Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) and Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology (GUIDE) while The Tata Power Company Limited was the private company included in the case study. These restoration programmes were planned to benefit biodiversity and human well-being through scientific implementation and continual monitoring. These aspects are key to achieve success in forest landscape restoration efforts. The report highlights the chosen case studies so that their learnings can reach a wider group of practitioners and be upscaled.
