Land Degradation in India: A National Systems Perspective on Achievements and Challenges
The need to analyse the restoration of land in each country with a national systems approach is highlighted in an essay recently. Different socio-economic factors and policies/institutions together may impact the effectiveness of efforts towards land restoration in different contexts/countries. The contribution of any one factor, say private property rights, may be different in different contexts depending on the presence (or absence) of other enabling factors. This is the rationale for using a national systems approach to view socio-economic and institutional enablers of land restoration.
We use this approach to outline certain achievements and challenges in terms of land restoration in India
in this essay. India is the 7th largest country in the world with 3.28 million sq. km and is known for a higher degree geographical diversity with Himalayan mountains, deserts, humid-tropical parts of South-West, Deccan Plateau, and parts of Sundarbans – the largest mangroves in the world, etc..
