Need for Expansive Land Management Policy

Syllabus: GS 3/Conservation 

In Context

• The discourse of land resource management has witnessed a major shift especially in the developing countries.

About Land-Management Practices

• Land management falls under the purview of State governments.
• Further, cultural land is privately owned and land-use decisions are constitutionally vested with the owner. 
• Land is central to all human activities and  It provides ecological, economic, social, and cultural services. 
• The multi-dimensional character of land is often overlooked in land management practices, resulting in excessive stress, land degradation, and environmental draw down.

The Challenges in India

• Huge pressure on land: India with only 2.4% of the world’s geographical area and more than 17% of the world population experiences several land management challenges.
  • Arable land in India is around 55% of total geographical area and forest cover accounts for another 22%.
    • The rest is desert, mountains, etc. Around 30% of total geographical area is degraded land. 
  • Development targets and the demand for land to accommodate the growing population, infrastructure, rapid urbanisation, and social, cultural, and environmental aspects are placing unprecedented pressure on land.
• Environmental : Across the country, natural areas are being squeezed and ecological functions being lost. It adversely affects the livelihood opportunities of the people who directly depend on environmental resources and also the buffering effects of natural ecosystems in the face of disasters such as floods and droughts, temperature rise, and environmental pollution are severely compromised. 
• Management : In India, current land management practices are sectoral with each department following its own approach.
  • The challenges to adopt and implement appropriate land management practices in the country include knowledge gaps, a short-term planning bias, a fragmented approach, lack of action for unforeseen events, and regulatory barriers.

Suggestions and Way Forward 

• As a critical mechanism to achieving sectoral integration and addressing the existing challenges, it is imperative to set up a multi-stakeholder platform at the district and sub-district levels to bring together farmers, other land managers, policymakers, civil society organisations, business leaders, and investors under a common platform.
•  Article 243ZD (1) of the Constitution provides for district planning committees to consolidate plans from panchayats and municipalities.
  • This committee may be activated in the direction of preparing a land management plan, covering both agricultural and non-agricultural sectors.

• A landscape approach will be useful as it will provide deep insights to assess the potential of land and the scope of allocation and reallocation of land for appropriate uses. 
• This will help evaluation, negotiation, trade off, and decision-making. 
• A climate-smart landscape approach will contribute to climate objectives, increased agricultural production, improved local livelihoods and the conservation of biodiversity.
• India’s parliamentarians can initiate deliberations on the emerging challenges of integrated land management practices and help devise appropriate policies for long-term sustainability by involving all actors across the scale, both horizontal and vertical.