UNCCD COP17: India’s Guide to Grasslands and Open Ecosystems
Why in the news
At the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD, held at Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, India unveiled a first-ever guide to grasslands and similar treeless habitats.
Open Natural Ecosystems
- ONEs are landscapes with no or few trees: grasslands, savannas, scrublands, ravines and deserts.
- They are often wrongly written off as wasteland because trees are absent, though they hold unique species and support pastoral communities. The Guide aims to correct this view.
About the UNCCD
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Origin | Agenda 21, 1992 Rio Earth Summit (UNCED), recommended it |
| Adopted | Adopted in Paris on 17 June 1994; effective December 1996 |
| Parties | 197: 196 countries and the European Union |
| Observance | 17 June each year |
| Key concept | LDN (Land Degradation Neutrality), part of SDG target 15.3 |
It seeks to fight desertification, reverse land degradation and soften drought in drylands, reaching LDN by 2030. It is one of three Rio Conventions with the UNFCCC (climate change) and the CBD (biodiversity).
India and the UNCCD
- Hosted COP14 in New Delhi in 2019, which produced the Delhi Declaration.
- Pledge: restore 26 million hectares by 2030.
- About 30% of India’s land is degraded, says the SAC-ISRO atlas on desertification and land degradation.
Exam angle
- Convention linked with LDN and drylands: UNCCD.
- COP14 host: India (2019); COP17 city: Ulaanbaatar.