World Day to Combat Desertification

The World Day to Combat Desertification is annually observed on 17th June with an aim to strengthen the visibility of the dry lands issue and to highlight the need to curb desertification process.

The theme of WDCD 2016 celebration was “Inclusive cooperation for achieving Land degradation Neutrality” with a very emphatic and compelling slogan “Protect Earth. Restore Land. Engage People.” This slogan clearly emphasizes on the importance of comprehensive participation and cooperation of the people in working towards achieving Land Degradation Neutrality. Though land is a valuable and limited natural resource, it has been an overlooked component in sustainable development for years. It is time we change this, and therefore the clear emphasis should be on importance of inclusive cooperation to restore and rehabilitate degraded land and contribute towards achieving the overall Sustainable Development Goals.

WDCD had been celebrated for past many years by the Ministry with an active support/participation of the line ministries and other scientific organizations. This year WDCD was organized by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) at Arid Forest Research Institute (AFRI), Jodhpur. A series of events involving schools children, farmers, members of forest and management committee, scientific communities, government officials and non-government organizations were organized on the occasion.