India restored 21.76 mn ha Land during 2011–2020, generating 1.22 bn person-days of Employment: Shri Bhupender Yadav at UNCCD COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Bhupender Yadav addressed a side event at the 17th Conference of the Parties (CoP 17) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. He stated that India restored 21.76 million hectares of land between 2011 and 2020, which generated about 1.22 billion person-days of employment. India is a major pledger to the Bonn Challenge with an enhanced commitment to restore 26 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2030. The Second Progress Report covers restoration across forests, agriculture, soil, and water conservation. Furthermore, India is undertaking the next reporting cycle for 2021–2025 with the ICFRE Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Land Management and IUCN, supported by initiatives such as the Green India Mission, Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority, and Nagar Van Yojana.