Land Degradation Neutrality

Also called: LDN · Topic: Geographical Issues: Pollution, Urban Waste, Slums and Land Degradation · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) means that any land that loses its power to produce is balanced by restoring an equal area of land, so the total stock of healthy land stays stable or grows. It is target SDG 15.3 under the UNCCD (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification), the UN treaty on desertification, land degradation and drought. It matters because nearly 30% of India's land is degraded, and India's pledge to restore 26 million ha by 2030 is the way it is working towards this goal [2][3][S3a].

Explanation

What "neutral" means

• The problem: land degradation means land loses its power to produce. The loss can be temporary or permanent.
• The idea: we cannot stop every bit of degradation, but we can cancel it out.
• Some land gets degraded somewhere.
• An equal area of degraded land is restored somewhere else.

• The net loss of healthy land is zero. The target can also be beaten, so the healthy land stock grows.

• The goal: it is target 15.3 of SDG 15 ("Life on Land"), one of the Sustainable Development Goals.

• Who leads it: the UNCCD. Its main meeting is the COP (Conference of the Parties).

The two sides of the balance sheet

• Losses (what pushes land into degradation). NCERT names five causes:
• Soil erosion: water or wind removes the fertile top soil.
• Waterlogging: water stays in the soil so long that roots cannot breathe.
• Salinisation: salts build up in the soil.
• Alkalinisation: sodium salts make the soil alkaline. In north India these soils are called usar, reh or kallar.

• Continuous cropping without care for fertility: nutrients are not put back through manure, fallowing (resting the land) or crop rotation.

• Gains (what restores land). These are the NCERT measures:

• Afforestation (planting trees), gully plugging and check dams for ravines. Roots bind the soil and dams slow the runoff.
• Contour bunding (earth ridges along contour lines) and terracing on slopes.
• Watershed management: treating the whole drainage area, from ridge to valley.
• Controlled grazing on degraded pastures, so the grass grows back.
• Reclamation of saline/alkaline soils: gypsum replaces sodium in the soil, drainage flushes out the salts, and less canal water is used.
• Shelterbelts (rows of trees that break the wind) and sand-dune fixing in deserts.

Why man-made degradation is the key to LDN

• NCERT says man-made wastelands matter more than natural ones.
• Natural wastelands, such as glaciers or barren rock, are hard to change.
• Human-made damage comes from overgrazing, mining, bad irrigation and shorter jhum cycles (less time before a forest plot is cleared again).

• Because people caused it, better land management can prevent and reverse it. That is how the "gain" side of LDN is built.

• Landscape restoration approach: India treats a whole area (farms, forests and water) together, not one plot at a time [S3a].

How India measures its balance

• Wastelands Atlas of India – 2019 (DoLR and NRSC, fifth edition, made from IRS satellite data): wastelands in 2015-16 were 55.76 million ha, or 16.96% of India [1].

• Between 2008-09 and 2015-16, 0.84 Mha (0.26%) of wasteland was turned back to productive use [1].

• Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India (SAC–ISRO, Ahmedabad, 2021): desertification and land degradation together covered 97.84 million ha in 2018-19, nearly 30% of India [2][3].

• It includes a 15-year change analysis, from 2003-05 to 2018-19 [2].

• What this means for LDN: wasteland is falling, but total degradation is rising. So India is not yet neutral on total degraded land.

Where it occurs

• Global: LDN applies to all countries that are parties to the UNCCD, as part of SDG 15.3.
• India, the main hotspots that need restoring:
• Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat have the largest degraded areas. Water erosion is the main process [2][3].
• Canal command areas (farmland served by a canal) of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, and the Indira Gandhi Canal area of Rajasthan. Here there is waterlogging, salinity and alkalinity.
• Ravines of the Chambal in Morena and Bhind (MP), Dholpur (Rajasthan) and Agra–Etawah (UP), and of the Yamuna and Mahi valleys.
• North-east hills: degraded shifting cultivation (jhum) areas.

• Mining belts of Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh: overburden dumps (waste rock and soil removed to reach ore), open pits and fly-ash ponds.

• India's commitment:

• At UNCCD COP14, New Delhi, 2019, India pledged to restore 26 million ha of degraded agricultural, forest and other wastelands between 2019 and 2030 [S3a].
• This target is counted under the Bonn Challenge. It is the largest pledge ever made under that challenge [4].
• Progress (June 2026): 21.76 million ha is under restoration, based on data from 36 States/UTs and DoLR. India is "on track" [4].

Don't confuse with

• Bonn Challenge: this is a separate global restoration drive, launched in 2011 and hosted by IUCN and Germany's Federal Environment Ministry [4]. It sets area targets: 150 Mha by 2020 and 350 Mha by 2030 [4]. LDN is a net-zero balance goal (SDG 15.3) under the UNCCD, not a fixed hectare target.
• Desertification: this is land degradation only in dry areas (arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid zones). LDN covers degradation of all land and aims to balance it.
• Wasteland: this is degraded land that is unused or under-used (55.76 Mha [1]). Degraded land is the bigger set (97.84 Mha [2][3]) and also includes land still being farmed. Wasteland can fall while total degradation rises.
• Afforestation alone: planting trees is only one tool on the "gain" side. LDN measures the net balance of all land: farms, pastures, forests and wastelands.

Prelims Hooks

• LDN = SDG 15.3, under the UNCCD. It is not under UNFCCC or CBD. This is a common trap.
• India's 26 Mha by 2030 target was announced at UNCCD COP14, New Delhi, 2019 [S3a]. It is the largest pledge under the Bonn Challenge [4].
• India's original 2015 pledge: 13 Mha by 2020, plus 8 Mha more by 2030 [4].
• Bonn Challenge (2011, IUCN + Germany): 150 Mha by 2020 and 350 Mha by 2030 [4].
• Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas: SAC–ISRO, Ahmedabad, 97.84 Mha in 2018-19. Main process: water erosion. Top states: Rajasthan > Maharashtra > Gujarat [2][3].
• Progress: 21.76 Mha under restoration as of June 2026 [4].

Mains Points

• Is India moving towards neutrality? Wasteland fell by 0.84 Mha between 2008-09 and 2015-16 [1]. But degraded land is about 30% of India in 2018-19 and has risen since 2003-05 [2]. So the hidden problem is degradation inside farmed land, mainly water erosion. LDN policy must look beyond "wastelands". (GS-III environment)
• Policy tools to reach LDN: the 26 Mha target (21.76 Mha under restoration by 2026 [4]) needs region-specific measures, using a landscape approach [S3a]:
• watershed management and contour bunding for water erosion in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat
• gypsum, drainage and less canal water for saline soils in Punjab, Haryana and the Indira Gandhi Canal area
• afforestation and gully plugging in the Chambal ravines

• longer jhum cycles in the North-east, and reclamation of mining dumps in Jharkhand and Odisha. (GS-III)

• Why it matters for people: degraded land lowers farm incomes and pushes people to migrate. Bare slopes and ravines increase runoff and silt in rivers. Dry degraded land spreads desertification and drought risk. Reaching LDN protects both livelihoods and disaster resilience. (GS-I / GS-III)

Related concepts

• Land degradation
• Wasteland
• Gullied and ravinous land
• Man-made wastelands
• Wastelands Atlas of India
• Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India
• Bonn Challenge

Read more

• Land degradation and wastelands