It is no news that the world’s forests are in danger. Deforestation, wildfires, soil erosion and expanding agriculture have resulted in two billion hectares of deforested and degraded land.
Between 1980 and 2012, 100 million hectares of tropical forests were converted to farmlands. Degrading forests not only upsets the ecosystem but also exacerbates global warming and climate change.
In 2011, Germany and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) launched the ‘Bonn Challenge’ to promote restoration of degraded land. It hopes to bring 350 million hectares of degraded forests across the world under restoration efforts by 2030.
So far, sixty-one countries have pledged their support to this initiative. India was the first BRIC country to join the challenge in 2015.
It hopes to bring 26 million hectares of its degraded
land under restoration by
2030.
India published its first progress report on this initiative in 2019. It estimates that 9.8 million hectares of deforested and degraded land have been brought under restoration. Government agencies, NGOs and private companies are driving these efforts in various states.
In Old Jalukie village in Nagaland, communities have agreed to stop slashing and burning forests for agriculture. They have also planted local species of trees in the fallow lands to promote restoring forests.
Lonavala in Maharashtra is a popular tourist spot in the biodiversity-rich Western Ghats that sees frequent flooding due to the Valvan dam. Tata Power has initiated a drive to restore forests in the project site to reduce flooding.
The Nature Conservation Foundation is working in Tamil Nadu’s Valparai to remove Lantana and restore forests.
Will the world pass this challenge with flying colours? We don’t yet know. If enthusiasm and progress by the participating countries are any means of measure, there is some hope of regaining our forests.