Nearly three-fourth of earth’s ice-free land has got used to meet human needs of home, highways, raw materials and food. The focus of the United Nations is on turning degraded land into healthy land. Land restoration helps in biodiversity recovery, creation of new jobs, economic resilience, food security, recovery of greenery and helping in climate change for the better. Since human needs and land degradation are ever increasing, it's highly important to reverse the damage done to productive land and the natural ecosystems. Upon it, the level and quality of survival of all species depends. 

Purpose of World Desertification and Drought Day

Land on our planet is getting degraded day by day because of inappropriate use and overexploitation. Bad irrigation, deforestation, overgrazing and factors like high population, political stability and poverty are undermining land’s productivity. Desertification and Drought Day is observed with the purpose to promote international efforts and public awareness to fight the issues related to land degradation. This day is meant to build hope that if the people around the globe work as a strong community, land degradation can stop and we would be protected from extreme weather events such as sand and dust storms, floods etc.

Theme of World Desertification and Drought Day 2021

This year’s theme is “Restoration. Land. Recovery. We build back better with healthy land”. Since we are still living in the fear of pandemic, virtual events like talks and webinars are being organized by specialists in this field. Environmentalists are using social media too to create a sense of enthusiasm towards this day, its purpose and its theme.

What have 100 countries committed?

More than 100 countries have committed restoration of almost 1 billion hectares of land in the next 10 years. This is a large chunk of land; almost the size of one of the countries if put together. If all the nations stay strong on their commitments, they would be doing immense good to planet earth and humankind. To keep this cause alive, the UN has initiated several campaigns and online activities so that the purpose of the day does not get washed off amidst the emergencies associated with the pandemic.