Needed people movement to tackle threat of land desertification: Javadekar

Tackling the global threat of land desertification has to be a people's movement, said Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar at a bilateral meeting with China on Sunday.

The desertification refers to the process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture.

The meeting was held ahead of a scheduled high-level 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which is to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Greater Noida on Monday.

We want to tackle the problems scientifically and therefore we are using ultra-modern technologies with the cooperation of others because ultimately desertification has to be a people's movement," said Javadekar, addressing meeting.

"India is also making positive progress in its actions on climate change," he added.

Javadekar also talked of the government's various efforts aimed at afforestation and highlighted the recent distribution of CAMPA funds to various states.

During the meeting, both India and China discussed the threat of land desertification in detail and explored opportunities for bilateral cooperation in the area of combating the malady within the UNCCD framework.

The meeting was attended by, among others, UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw, Minister of Chinese Embassy in India L I Bijian and Myanmar's Union Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation Ohn Win.

India is hosting the UNCCD COP14 which began on September 2 and will go upto September 13.

Environment Minister javadekar earlier said on the Opening Day that good outcomes are expected of the UNCCD which will be notified in the Delhi Declaration.

The UNCCD is an international agreement on good land stewardship aimed at helping people, communities and countries create wealth, grow economies and secure enough food, water and energy.