changeadminIndia’s Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Mr Bhupender Yadav, on Wednesday inaugurated the National Conference on Eco-restoration of the Aravalli Landscape: Strengthening the Aravalli Green Wall in New Delhi. The Minister also released a report titled ‘Eco-restoration of the Aravalli Landscape’, prepared by the Sankala Foundation, during the inaugural session.
In his address, Mr Yadav said the government launched the Aravalli Green Wall Project as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision and India’s commitment under the UNCCD to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land.
Under this initiative, 6.45 million hectares of degraded land in the Aravalli region have been identified, with greening work initiated on more than 2.7 million hectares across Gujarat, Delhi, Haryana, and Rajasthan.
Divisional Forest Officers from 29 Aravalli districts are implementing the project, focusing on plantations of native species suited to arid and semi-arid conditions, the Minister informed.
Recalling a landmark conservation decision, Mr Yadav said that around 97 square kilometres of Aravalli revenue land, stretching from Naurangpur to Nuh in Haryana and heavily degraded, has been identified for afforestation and declared a Protected Forest by the State of Haryana for better protection and management.
Highlighting the ecological and historical importance of the region, the minister said the Aravallis are the country’s oldest mountain range and have sheltered human civilisation for thousands of years.
He said the Aravalli ecosystem is protected by four tiger reserves and 18 protected areas, and that additional green interventions are underway where required.
The Minister said India has taken global leadership in wildlife conservation, noting that the country is home to five of the world’s seven big cat species and nearly 70 per cent of the global tiger population, which continues to grow.
Mr Yadav said thousands of hectares in the Aravalli region have been restored in the last two to three years, and the government remains committed to continuing this work with ecology at the centre of development.
Mr Yadav said India today has a strong and well-balanced approach to striking a balance between ecological stability and economic aspirations. He further emphasised that the government is committed to restoring and conserving the Aravallis and similar ecosystems across the country.
The conference brought together policymakers, forest officials, experts, practitioners, and civil society representatives to discuss the ecological significance of the Aravalli Range and pathways for its restoration.
The report released at the conference provides a scientific, community-driven and scalable framework to strengthen the ‘Aravalli Green Wall Project’ of the ministry under the National Action Plan to Combat Desertification and Land Degradation.
It emphasises that restoration efforts must be landscape-scale, data-driven, community-anchored and multidisciplinary, noting that isolated interventions are no longer adequate given the scale of degradation and ecological pressures in the region.
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