The word "land degradation" refers to the state of land resources such as water, soil, and vegetation that has changed to an unfavorable one. Land degradation is mostly caused by mining, deforestation, intensive farming practices, and overgrazing. An estimated two billion hectares of forests worldwide are considered degraded and in need of restoration. Numerous limitations and difficulties hinder the repair efforts. When it comes to land restoration, forestry is frequently seen as a sensible and sustainable choice. It exposes the right kind of restoration work to do and what makes a program successful. By reclaiming degraded land, one can plant appropriate tree species and transform sterile, barren wasteland into one that is fruitful and fit for farming and habitation. The restoration of degraded and wasteland areas is accomplished by a variety of management strategies and methodologies, such as forest interventions, agroforestry systems, and reforestation techniques.

1. Title- Role of forestry in restoration of degraded lands
Submitted by: Sagar Chaudhary
ID No- 22342
M.Sc. Forestry (Silviculture)
Submitted to: Dr. Reena Joshi
Assistant Professor: Agroforestry
College of Forestry, Ranichauri (T.G)

2. Presentation profile
 Introduction
 Definition
 Causes of Land Degradation
 Effects of Land Degradation
 Status of Land Degradation in India
Classification of Degraded Lands
 Why Land Restoration?
 Role of Forestry in Restoration
 Approaches (or)Technologies
 Choice of Species
 Case Studies
 Conclusions
 References

3. Introduction
 The restoration of degraded lands is a pressing global challenge as human activities, such as
deforestation, agriculture, and urbanization, have caused extensive environmental damage.
 Degraded lands are characterized by eroded soils, loss of biodiversity, reduced water quality, and
diminished ecosystem services. In addressing this critical issue, forestry emerges as a powerful and
multifaceted solution.
 This introduction explores the pivotal role that forestry plays in the restoration of degraded lands. From
mitigating climate change and enhancing biodiversity to safeguarding watersheds and providing
economic opportunities, forestry holds the promise of rejuvenating degraded landscapes and fostering
sustainable coexistence between humans and the environment.
 In the following discussion, we will delve into the diverse ways in which forestry contributes to land
restoration and the myriad benefits it offers to ecosystems and communities alike.

4. Definition
Land degradation:
 Land degradation is the temporary or permanent lowering of the productive
capacity of land (UNEP 1992), thus it covers the various forms of soil degradation,
adverse human impacts on water resources, deforestation, lowering of the productive
capacity of rangelands.
 Land degradation can be considered in terms of the loss or actual or potential
productivity or utility as a result of natural or anthropogenic factors; or it is the decline in
land quality or reduction in its productivity.

5. Causes of Land degradation
Causes of degradation Area (Mha) % of Total area
Water erosion 107.12 61.7
Wind erosion 17.79 10.24
Ravines 3.97 2.28
Salt-affected 7.61 4.38
Waterlogging 8.52 4.90
Mines & quarry waste ----- ----
Shifting cultivation 4.91 2.82
Degraded forest lands 19.91 11.22
Special problems 2.73 1.57
Coastal sandy areas 1.46 0.84
TOTAL 173.64 100.0
Source: Development of Wastelands and Degraded
Lands Tenth Five Year plan (2002-2007)

6. Effects of Land Degradation
▪ Land degradation has both on-site and off-site effects
▪ On-site effects are the lowering of the productive capacity of the land, causing either
reduced outputs (crop yields, livestock yields) or the need for increased inputs.
▪ Off-site effects of water erosion occur through changes in the water regime, including
decline in river water quality, and sedimentation of river beds and reservoirs. The main
off-site effect of wind erosion is overblowing, or sand deposition.

7. Status of land degradation in India (2009)
Broad categories of degraded lands Area (Mha)
Water Erosion 82.57
Wind Erosion 12.40
Salt affected soils 6.74
Acid soils 17.94
Others 1.07
Total 120.72
Source: ICAR-national bureau of soil
survey and land use planning, IFPRI
 Degraded and wastelands in the country cover 120.4 M ha, incorporating combination of
various wasteland classes and degraded lands (Degraded and wasteland of India ICAR 2010)

8. Land degradation map
of India
Generated using LISS-III
data of 2015-2016
Source: isro.gov.in/earth observer

9. Land Degradation
Assessment by
Different Organization
Agency Estimated extent (M ha) Criteria for delineation
NCA 1976 148.09 Based on secondary data
Ministry of Agriculture 1978 175.00 Based on NCA’S estimates
SPWD (Bhumbla &
Khare,1984)
129.58 Based on secondary
estimates
NRSA 1985 53.28 Remote sensing techniques
MoA 1985 173.64 Land degradation statistics
for states
MoA 1994 107.43 Eliminating duplications
area
NBSS&LUP 1994 187.70 1:4 scale GLASOD
guidelines
NBSS&LUP 2004 Revised 146.82 1:1 scale soil map
Department of environment
Vohra 1980
95.00
NWDB 1985 123.00
Source: Degraded and wasteland of India- ICAR

10. Types of land degradation assessed
Land degradation have been grouped into six classes
 Water erosion covers all forms of soil erosion by water, including sheet and rill erosion and
gullying. This is most widespread degradation occurring in all agro-climatic regions.
 Wind erosion refers to loss of soil by wind, occurring primarily in dry regions
 Waterlogging is the lowering in land productivity through the rise in groundwater close to
the soil surface. severe form, of water logging termed ponding, where the water table rises
above the surface. Waterlogging is linked with salinization, both being brought about by
innocent irrigation management.

11. Water erosion Wind erosion
Waterlogging Salinization

12. Soil fertility decline:
Is used as a short term refer to
• Lowering of soil organic matter, with associated decline in soil biological activity;
• Degradation of soil physical properties (structure, aeration, water holding capacity)
• Adverse changes in soil nutrient resources, including reduction in availability of the
major nutrients (NPK), onset of micronutrient deficiencies, and development of nutrient
imbalances.
• Buildup of toxicities, primarily acidification through incorrect fertilizer use.

13.  Salinization is the process by which water-soluble salts accumulate in the soil.
Salinization is a resources concern because excess salts hinder the growth of crops by
limiting their ability to take up water. Salinization may occur naturally or because of
conditions resulting from managements practices.
 Lowering of the water table through tube well pumping of groundwater for irrigation
exceeding the natural recharge capacity. Pumping for urban and individual use is a further
cause.

14. Other types of degradation includes
a) Deforestation: refers to the cutting or clearing of forests which can directly leads to
degradation, erosion, climate change
b) Forest degradation: This is the reduction of resources and lowering of productive
capacity of forest through activities.
c) Rangeland degradation: This is the lowering of the productive capacity of rangelands.
a b c

15. Why does land needs to be restored?
 Land restoration is the process of ecological restoration of site, safe for humans, wildlife and plant communities
 It help in bringing marginal land or previously degraded soils back into productive use and enabling expansion of the productive
area
 It enhances the supply of valuable ecosystem services that benefit biotic communities
 Re-establish the potential of native species
 Protect from erosion and runoff
 Improve wildlife habitat
 Improving soil productivity and stability
 Improves environment conditions and aesthetically pleasing
Degraded land
Functioning ecosystem
after restoring

16. Role of forestry in restoration of degraded lands
Forestry plays a key role in restoring the degraded land through:
 Forest interventions
 Afforestation techniques
 Agroforestry models
Which further restores the degraded land through:
 Biomass accumulation
 Floristic composition (MPTs)
System nutrient distribution and soil fertility
 Rehabilitation and management implications

17. Strategies for Developing Lands (or) Forest Interventions
Creation of fuel and fodder reserves:
 Plantations to be raised of fuel and fodder species in order to meet the fuel and fodder demand at the same
time cover the wasteland with vegetation. The land is put for productive use.
Social Forestry:
 Forestry outside the conventional forests
Industrial plantations:
 Wood based industries require wood for manufacture of paper, timber for furniture, plywood etc., and
plantation are to be raised to meet the raw material demand of the industry. Growing industrial plantations
will help in greening the wastelands as well as will meet the raw materials needs of the industry.

18. Extension forestry
 Extension forestry is the practice of forestry in areas devoid of tree growth and other vegetation
situated in places away from the conventional forest areas with the object of increasing the area
under tree growth.
Rehabilitation of degraded forests
 The degraded area under forests needs immediate attention for ecological restoration and for
meeting the socio economic needs of the communities living in and around such areas.
Agroforestry:
 Introducing Agroforestry in degraded lands can improve the productivity of soils as well as provides
income
Community forestry:
 Raising plantation in degraded communal lands with the help of local community
Urban forestry:
 Raising urban parks in degraded lands help in land restoration as well as provides recreational
benefits

19. Technologies and approaches
Mined areas:
 The country is having a well developed mining sector, which has vast geological
potential with over 20,000 known minerals deposits.
 The total of 683,671.5 ha area is under mining in the country. The highest area is in
Rajasthan (1,41,280 ha) followed by Bihar (1,36,759.5 ha) and Orissa (1,04,334 ha).
 Mining destroys vegetation and cause extensive damage to the soil and biodiversity.

20. Restoration of mined areas
The various steps for restoration of mined areas are discussed below:
 Preliminary survey
 Site preparation: reshaping, filling cavities, leveling.
 Counters are made on the mould to stop erosion
 Pit size:60*60*60, filled with FYM @5kg/pit
 Spacing 2*2
 Fertilization and irrigation is provided to help plant establishment
 Mortality replacement is to be made with 3 months of planting to keep 100% survival in
plantation.

21. Choice of species
Criteria Tree species grasses
 Native species
 Fast growing
 Ecologically viable
 Deep rooted
 Nitrogen fixing trees
 Drought tolerant
Eucalyptus spp.
Grevillea pteridifolia
Pongamia pinnata
Dalbergia sissoo
Erythrina suberosa
Bauhinia retusa
Agave americana
Leucaena leucocephala
Acacia spp.
Eulaliopsis binate
Pennisetum purpureum
Saccharum spontaneum
Cenchrus cillaris
Cynodon dactylon

22. Role of vegetation
Vegetation is the most appropriate and cost effective long term remedy to encounter the
majority of underlying problems of derelict mined land.
 It plays a critical role in restoring productivity ecosystem stability, and biological diversity
through numerous processes, including maintenance or increase of soil organic matter,
biological nitrogen fixation, uptake of nutrients from deep soil layer, increase water
infiltration and storage.
 Reduce loss of nutrients by erosion and leaching, improved soil physical properties, reduce
soil acidity, and improve soil biological activity.

23. Ravine areas
• The ravine means a deep gorge. Ravines are formed due to very loose/soft and powdery soil such
as alluvial soil. It is caused due to soil and water erosion.
• Millions of hectares of fertile land along the banks of rivers are ruined by ravine formation
• The National Remote Sensing Agency, based on the Land sat data, has estimated nearly 4 Mha of
area under of ravine land.
Restoration:
• Soil conservation measures: watershed development approach
• Afforestation with tree planting,
• • pasture development
• Aerial planting in remote areas
• Agroforestry approaches.

24. Agroforestry Approaches:
System followed in ravine lands
are:
 Agri silviculture
 Agri horticulture
 Silvo pastoral
Choice of species
Agricultural crops Tree species Fruit species Grasses
Pigeon pea
(Cajanus cajan)
Black gram
( Vigna mungo)
Eucalyptus tereticornis,
Dendrocalamus striticus,
Leuceana leucocephala
Lemon (Citrus limon),
Mango (Mangifera
indica), Ber (Ziziphus
mauritiana), and
Amla (Emblica
officinalis)
Dicanthium
annulatum, Cenchrus
spp, Panicum spp,
Pannisetum
purpureum, and
Brachiaria mutica

25. Degraded Ravine area Ravines restoration through
Agroforestry
AfforestingChambal ravines

26. Case study: Bamboo and Anjan Grass-Based Silvopasture
system enhanced productivity of ravines in Gujrat
▪ It was found that the ravine lands, under unproductive use can successfully be reclaimed
by planting bamboo, a fast growing plant species, on the gully beds and Anjan grass on
the sides slopes, and the interspaces of gully bed for economic utilization of gullied land.
▪ The grasses fetched an income on INR 3000-6000 per hectare over the period of 5 years.
The system also yield about 300 clumps of bamboo with 3000-4000 old and 1000-1500
new culm per hectare bamboo plantation in 7 years old plantation.
Source: NAIP- Mass Media Project, DKMA with inputs from RC, CS&WCR&T, Vasad
and DMAPR, Anand

27. Lateritic lands
▪ The lateritic region covers an area of 12 million ha in India. The soil derived from
lateritic rocks is called as lateritic soil and also termed as red loam.
▪ This soil has silica/alumina ratio more than 2. The soil is mostly red/red yellow in color
and rich in iron
▪ Such lateritic soil is found in Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and West Bengal
▪ The lateritic region have excellent forests of Sal and mixed deciduous forests. Due to
heavy biotic pressure, the patches in forests are degraded and need Afforestation.

28. Restoration process
▪ Deep ripping of lateritic land
▪ Deep ripping, pitting and planting is done in private or agricultural lands
▪ As the soils are deficient in organic matter and nutrients, fertilization is provided during
rainy season at the time of planting and also after planting
▪ Spacing followed is 2 x 2 m or any other suitable spacing depending up on species to be
planted.

29. Lateritic stone mining Lateritic land and afforestation
Lateritic land devoid of plants Cultivation after land preparation

30. Salt affected soils
▪ Salt affected soils are broadly classified into Alkali and Saline soils.
▪ In general, the salt affected soils get ameliorated by trees depends upon the nature and
type of trees species, growth habit, quantity and quality of litter produced, planting
density, age of plantation, ability to fix N, and management practices.
Soil type ESP SAR pH EC
Alkali soils >15 >13 >8.5 <4
Saline soil <15 >13 <8.5 >4

31. ▪ For instance, tree minimizes the salt deposition in the upper layers of the soil, it prevents
salt accumulation on the surface layer, it improves water permeability and it facilitate
leaching of salts, it decreases the bicarbonate levels, it reduces soil pH and electrical
conductivity (EC), it increases water holding capacity, as well as infiltration rate and soil
fertility
Approaches includes:
✓ Afforestation
✓ Agroforestry systems
Agri silvicultural system, Silvopasture system, Multipurpose woodlots, and
Agrihortisilvicultural system are suitable for reclamation of salt affected soils.

32. Choice of species
Tree species Fruit species Grasses
Eucalyptus tereticornis
Acacia nilotica
Albizia lebbeck
Terminalia arjuna
Prosopis juliflora
Casuarina equisetifolia
Tamarix articulata
Zizyphus mauritina
Punica granatum
Syzygium cumini
Emblica officinalis
Tamarindus indica
Aegel marmelos
Leptochloa fusca
Chloris gayana
Brachiaria mutica
Sporobolus spp.

33. Case study: Agroforestry technique for the rehabilitation
of degraded salt-affected lands in India
▪ The study dealt with a range of species that was tested under green house and actual
field conditions and enlisted the species that are most tolerant, moderately tolerant and
sensitive to salinity.
Average pH Fuelwood or timber species Fruit species
>10.0 Prosopis juliflora
Acacia nilotica
Casuarina equisetifolia
Achrus japota
9.0-10.0 Tamarix auriculata
Terminalia arjuna
Albizzia lebbeck
Milletia pinnata
Zizyphus mauritiana
Sapindus laurifolius
Emblica officinalis
Carissa carandas
Aegel marmelos
8.2-9.0 Dalbergia sissoo
Morus alba
Azadirachta indica
Tectona grandis
Punica granatum
Prunus persica
Mangifera indica
Syzygium cumini
Source: G. Singh et.al., 1994

34. Coastal Areas
• Coastal habitat restoration encompasses the range of remedies that society undertakes to
repair, reinvigorate, or replace parts of the coastal environment that have been lost or injured
as a result of human activities or natural events
• They extend for about 6,150 km from the Rann of Kutch in the west to West Bengal in the
east
• During recent decades, coastal ecosystem have been increasingly affected by large-scale
land-use change and by sea level rise due to global warming
• Both salt marshes and dunes have an important function in protecting coastal regions from
flooding and erosion and provide habitats for plant and animal species with special
adaptations for survival under harsh environmental conditions.
• Restoration projects includes planting salt marshes and repairing coral reefs.

35. Agencies and programs
• The coastal ecosystem program
• The National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grants Program
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Choice of species
• Heretiera fomes
• Acanthus volubilis
• Pheonix paludosa
• Rhizophora stylosa
• Sarcolibus carinatus
• Thespesia populneoides
• Salvodara spp.
• Tamarix spp.
• Indigofera argentea
• Acacia chundra
• Lumnitzera littorea
• Barringtonia asiatica
• Manilkara littoralis
• Avicennia marina
• Litsea nitida
• Euphorbia spp.
Source: bsi.envis.nic.in/ coastal plants

36. Conclusion
Degraded land is regarded as a powerful tool of attacking the issues of poverty and
backwardness. To mitigate these problems, we can adopt farming system under different
Agroforestry models viz., alley cropping/hedgerow farming, multipurpose faming,
boundary plantation and plantation with suitable pastures in erosion prone hilly area to
reduce soil and water erosion. Overall, forest interventions and Afforestation activities
should be adopted to protect lands from further deterioration and degradation processes.

37. References
▪ Chaturvedi, O.P., Kaushik, R.,Tomar, J.M.S.Prandiyal, A.K. and Panwar, P. 2014. Agroforestry for Wasteland
Rehabilitation: Mined, Ravine, and Degraded Watershed Areas. pp. 273-271. In:Dagar, J,C., Singh, A.K. and
Arunachalam,A.(eds.)Agroforestry Systems in India: Livelihood Security & Ecosystem Services. Part of the Advances
in Agroforestry book series (ADAG, volume = 10).Springer.
▪ Development of wastelands and degraded lands. Tenth Five Year Plan 2002-2007.Ch-5.3.pp.981-594.
▪ http://www.bsicavis.nic.in/Database/IndianMangroves_3941.aspx
▪ Kiehl K and Isermann M.2007. Restoration of coastal ecosystems an introduction. Coastline Reports 7.1-4p.
▪ Maji, A.K., Reddy, G.P. Obi and Sarkar, D. 2010. Degraded and Wastelands of India Status and Spatial Distribution.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research. New Delhi, 167 p.
▪ Nair, P.K.R. 1993 An introduction to Agroforestry. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Netherlands 489p.
▪ Singh.G, Singh N. T. and Abrol LP 1994 Agroforestry techniques for the rehabilitation of degraded salt-affected lands
in India. Land Degradation and Rehabilitation, vol 5,223-242p.
▪ Tom, A. and Finch, D. 1998. Restoring Coastal Habitats. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
NOAA's State of the Coast Report. Silver Spring, MD: NOAA. 28p.

38. YOU