Experts call for integrated land management to tackle degradation, safeguard food security and water resources

The Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) convened a national roundtable on land degradation, underlining the urgent need for integrated land restoration to bolster climate resilience and food security in India.

Held in collaboration with its research arm, WOTR Centre for Resilience Studies (W-CReS), the Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative, and GIZ, the event brought together government agencies, scientific experts, community leaders, and corporate and philanthropic partners, including Nabard, ICFRE, HCL Foundation, Tata Communications, Axis Bank Foundation, John Deere, GSK, and Auctus ESG.

Participants flagged India’s increasing climate variability and the vulnerability of degraded land, stressing that nearly 40 per cent of global land is already degraded. They advocated for a shift from fragmented interventions to an integrated “Evergreen Revolution” framework linking watershed restoration, climate-resilient agriculture, water management, and livelihood diversification, underpinned by innovative financing and outcome-based monitoring.

Daniel Tsegai, UNCCD Programme Officer, underlined land restoration as central to meeting both national and global climate and development goals. Marcella D’Souza, Director, W-CReS, added that aligning science, policy, finance, and community efforts is critical to enhancing resilience and food security.

The roundtable produced a policy brief consolidating insights, recommendations, and a phased roadmap for land restoration in India. The brief aims to guide policymakers, donors, and practitioners in translating discussions into actionable strategies, reinforcing India’s Vision@2047 and strengthening local community leadership, particularly among women and youth.

Experts including Mark Schauer (ELD Initiative, GIZ), Alisher Mirabaev (IRRI), and senior officials from Nabard, ICFRE, and WALMI emphasised that successful restoration requires both top-down policy support and bottom-up community-led initiatives.