It is important to mobilize private investors for land restoration, says UNCCD executive secretary

New Delhi (India), Sept 10 (ANI): Resources available to address the problem of land degradation are insufficient and it is important to mobilize private investors for the purpose of land restoration, said Ibrahim Thiaw, executive secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) at COP14.

"We are still far short of resources that are needed to reverse the trends of degradation we are seeing today," said Thiaw.

"Many countries and communities are investing their own funds. Farmers are doing a lot by investing their own resources. We are not yet in scale. We have global funds, and global environment facilities but the resources that are available today to address land degradation are not sufficient," said Thiaw.

He said that private funding should be encouraged to garner more funds to combat the problem of land degradation.

"We need public funding as much as we need private investments. Public funds alone will be insufficient. It is important to mobilize private investors for business sake on land restoration," said Thiaw.

Experts at UNCCD cited that land degradation is primarily man-made and degrades the value of the biophysical environment and deteriorates. Land degradation has affected approximately 3.2 billion people worldwide especially the rural, farmers and people living below the poverty line.

Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) the topic widely discussed in COP14 will ensure a paradigm shift in land management policies and practices. LDN expects to recover degraded areas into much productive land.

According to experts, severe land degradation is adversely affecting 168 countries across the world. While 29.93 per cent of India's total landmass is affected due to land degradation of which India targets to restore its goal of 26 million hectors by 2030.

As per UNCCD, more than 120 countries have engaged with the LDN Target Setting Programme.