{"id":108655,"date":"2026-06-18T12:43:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T07:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=108655"},"modified":"2026-06-18T13:27:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T07:57:50","slug":"world-day-to-combat-desertification-and-drought-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/world-day-to-combat-desertification-and-drought-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought was observed globally recently.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>About World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is observed annually on <\/span><b>June 17 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to spread awareness about international cooperation to combat desertification and the effects of drought.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>History:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Desertification <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">was<\/span><b> identified as one of the greatest challenges <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to sustainable development during the <\/span><b>Rio Earth Summit in 1992.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>In 1994, the UN General Assembly established<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (<\/span><b>UNCCD<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This <\/span><b>legally binding international agreement<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> linked the environment and development to sustainable land management.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In addition to the UNCCD, the <\/span><b>UN proclaimed June 17 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">as World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>In 2026, the theme \u201cRangelands: Recognize. Respect. Restore.\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> highlights the importance of rangelands\u2014ecosystems that have long been undervalued despite their critical role.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This year\u2019s observance also <\/span><b>aligns with the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>What are Rangelands?\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Rangelands <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are expansive <\/span><b>natural areas primarily characterized by native vegetation <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">like <\/span><b>grasses, shrubs, and forbs.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Covering about <\/span><b>50% of the Earth&#8217;s land surface<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, they play a vital role in supporting <\/span><b>livestock, wildlife, and diverse ecosystems.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These lands are<\/span><b> not typically suitable for intensive agriculture <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">due to limitations such as low precipitation and poor soil quality.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rangelands provide essential resources, including <\/span><b>recreational opportunities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>habitats <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">for various animal species, while also serving as <\/span><b>watersheds and mining locations.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>dynamic nature <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of rangelands is influenced by numerous factors, including climate changes, grazing practices, and human encroachment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rangelands <\/span><b>store vast amounts of carbon <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and either originate or serve as <\/span><b>freshwater catchment areas<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for most of the <\/span><b>world\u2019s largest rivers and wetlands.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They <\/span><b>support the lives<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of around <\/span><b>two billion people<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> worldwide, including <\/span><b>many pastoralists and Indigenous Peoples<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> whose knowledge and stewardship have sustained these landscapes for generations.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rangelands <\/span><b>provide almost 70 per cent of livestock feed globally<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, making them critical to food systems.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Indian rangelands<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> occupy about 121 million hectares, from the <\/span><b>Thar Desert to the alpine meadows in the Himalayas.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the UNCCD \u2018Global Land Outlook Thematic Report\u2019, the a<\/span><b>rea used for grazing<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is estimated at around <\/span><b>40 per cent of the total land surface of India,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> including <\/span><b>grasslands (17 per cent), and forests (23 per cent).\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Around 70 per cent of rangelands are in the temperate region<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, however, a <\/span><b>large share (100 million hectares) is considered underutilised,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> including degraded forest lands, land unsuitable for crop production, ravines, and wastelands.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Th<\/span><b>e United Nations has declared 2026<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Led by Mongolia<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and supported by a broad coalition of organisations, this initiative aims to raise awareness, encourage responsible investments and shape policies that safeguard rangelands and pastoralist livelihoods.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Present in more than 75 percent of countries<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>managing <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">at least <\/span><b>one quarter of the world\u2019s land,<\/b> <b>pastoralists herd about one billion animals worldwide.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is the <\/span><b>only legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was set up to a<\/span><b>ddress desertification and the effects of drought.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Adopted on June 17, 1994,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> it entered into force on December 26, 1996 after the 50th ratification was received.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The UNCCD is <\/span><b>one of the three Rio Conventions\u2014along<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change<\/span><b> (UNFCCC) <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/convention-on-biological-diversity\/\" target=\"_blank\">Convention on Biological Diversity <\/a><\/strong><\/span><b><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/convention-on-biological-diversity\/\" target=\"_blank\">(CBD)<\/a>\u2014<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and w<\/span><b>as called for in Agenda 21, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the programme of action adopted at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED, or Earth Summit).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are <\/span><b>197 Parties<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to the Convention, including 196 country Parties and the European Union.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It works together to <\/span><b>improve the living conditions for people in drylands<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, to maintain and<\/span><b> restore land and soil productivity<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and to <\/span><b>mitigate the effects of drought.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Parties to the Convention meet in<\/span><b> Conferences of the Parties (COP) every two years<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, as well as in technical meetings throughout the year.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The UNCCD<\/span><b> permanent secretariat<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is located in <\/span><b>Bonn, Germany.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>National reporting:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The UNCCD\u2019s success relies on reliable, up-to-date information on drought, desertification and land degradation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Every 4 years,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> parties must report on the actions they have undertaken to implement the convention. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>News<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/newsonair.gov.in\/world-day-to-combat-desertification-and-drought-observed-globally-to-raise-awareness-on-land-degradation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NOA<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed annually on June 17 to spread awareness about international cooperation to combat desertification and the effects of drought.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":108715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[21,22,23,8190],"class_list":{"0":"post-108655","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"tag-prelims-pointers","9":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","10":"tag-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","11":"tag-world-day-to-combat-desertification-and-drought","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108655"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108726,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108655\/revisions\/108726"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}