"India Presents Forest Restoration Progress at FAO's COFO 28"
Bonn Challenge
a global voluntary pledge to restore 350 million hectares of degraded land by 2030
COFO
FAO's Committee on Forestry, its top biennial forestry governance body
Land degradation affects roughly 30% of India's geographical area, undermining agricultural productivity and ecosystem services such as water retention and carbon storage. India's response sits within overlapping global frameworks. The UNCCD provides the broad governance architecture for sustainable land management, while the Bonn Challenge, a voluntary global movement launched in 2011 to restore 350 million hectares worldwide by 2030, is the main pledge mechanism. India joined the Bonn Challenge in 2015 and later raised its own target to 26 million hectares by 2030. A related global effort, the New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF), endorsed at the 2014 UN Climate Summit, set a non-binding timeline to halt global forest loss; India was not among its initial signatories, unlike its sustained engagement with the Bonn Challenge. These pledges feed directly into India's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, and India has now enhanced this ambition to an additional carbon sink of 3.5 to 4.0 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2035, measured against 2005 levels, up from the earlier 2.5 to 3 billion tonne goal.
Domestically, these pledges are delivered through a multi-sectoral architecture. The Green India Mission, one of the eight missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, targets improvement of forest cover; CAMPA channels compensatory afforestation funds; the Nagar Van Yojana covers urban greening; and watershed and agroforestry schemes address farmland. Two newer landscape-specific initiatives extend this architecture. The Aravalli Green Wall targets roughly 6.45 million hectares of degraded, semi-arid land along the Aravalli hill range, echoing Africa's Great Green Wall in trying to arrest desertification along a fragile corridor. …
Which of the following best describes/describe the aim of 'Green India Mission' of the Government of India?
1.Incorporating environmental benefits and costs into the Union and State Budgets thereby implementing the 'green accounting'
2.Launching the second green revolution to enhance agricultural output so as to ensure food security to one and all in the future
3.Restoring and enhancing forest cover and responding to climate change by a combination of adaptation and mitigation measures
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
With reference to the 'New York Declaration on Forests', which of the following statements are correct?
1.It was first endorsed at the United Nations Climate Summit in 2014.
2.It endorses a global timeline to end the loss of forests.
3.It is a legally binding international declaration.
4.It is endorsed by governments, big companies and indigenous communities.
5.India, at its inception, was one of the signatories.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Consider the following statements regarding the Bonn Challenge:
1.It is a global voluntary effort launched in 2011 to restore 350 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2030.
2.India's pledge under the Bonn Challenge is to restore 26 million hectares by 2030.
3.India has already brought more than half of its pledged area under restoration.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Consider the following statements about Ramsar Sites in India:
1.A Ramsar Site is a wetland designated as internationally important under the Ramsar Convention, 1971.
2.India's Ramsar Site count has crossed 100.
3.The Ramsar Convention is administered by the FAO.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Consider the following statements regarding India's forestry-related climate commitments:
1.India's original NDC target was to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through forest and tree cover by 2030.
2.India has since enhanced this ambition to an additional carbon sink of 3.5 to 4.0 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2035, measured against 2005 levels.
3.This carbon sink target is pursued independently of India's Bonn Challenge and Green India Mission commitments.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Match List I (Initiative) with List II (Primary Focus) and select the correct answer using the code given below:
List I:
A.Aravalli Green Wall
B.MISHTI
C.Green India Mission
D.Nagar Van Yojana
List II:
1.Mangrove restoration for coastal resilience
2.Restoration of degraded semi-arid land
3.Urban green cover expansion
4.Forest cover improvement under NAPCC
As per the FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025, India's global ranking in net annual forest area gain is:
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