ICFRE


भारतीय वानिकी अनुसंधान एवं शिक्षा परिषद Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education

Introduction

The Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Land Management (CoE-SLM) has been established at the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) to engage and enable parties at international, national and local levels in addressing land degradation related issues with an ultimate goal of achieving land degradation neutrality (LDN). During the 14^th Conference of the Parties (COP-14) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in September 2019, the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India,Shri Narendra Modi announced the establishment of the CoE-SLM at ICFRE. The center was formally inaugurated by Hon’ble Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Bhupender Yadav on 20^th May, 2023 at ICFRE, Dehradun.

Aim

To facilitate restoration of degraded lands and achieving land degradation neutrality

Mission

1- Promote South-South Cooperation to enable India to share its experiences on SLM with country parties.

2- Identify various sources for obtaining finance to implement projects/schemes to achieve LDN.

3- Engage in planning, monitoring and evaluation systems for interventions to combat land degradations.

4- Facilitate networking of national and international institutions working on sustainable land and ecosystem management for knowledge sharing, capacity building of the stakeholders in LDN target setting and provide support for land degradation mapping.

5- Share knowledge and technology amongst developing countries, parties of United Nations Conventions to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) to arrest further land degradation and restoration of degraded lands.

6- Develop scientific approach, facilitate induction of technology, capacity building and knowledge sharing for addressing land degradation issues.

7- Work in close coordination with all regional, national and international organization engaged in land restoration and allied areas.

Objectives

1- Assessment of land degradation through application of space-based technology in collaboration and networking with research organizations/ institutes of India, i.e. ISRO (SAC, NRSC etc.), FSI, GSI, etc and to build a National Knowledge Hub with data related to sustainable land management

2- Capacity building in the formulation of strategies for sustainable land management frameworks alongwith sustainable development goals (SDGs).

3- Capacity building for assessment, monitoring and reporting of land based indicators of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

4- Capacity building for target setting for land degradation neutrality, drought risk and early warning systems, gender mainstreaming, good governance of land tenure and land rights, and sustainable development goals

5- Capacity building to assess the impacts of land degradation and land use changes in greenhouse gas emission and biodiversity loss

6- Provide training and capacity building on land degradation issues through conducting certificate, diploma, degree, doctoral and post-doctoral courses.

7- Capacity building for fund sourcing from private sectors, corporate sectors and multi-lateral agencies for taking up projects on sustainable land management (SLM).

8- Implementation of demonstrative projects for sustainable land management.

9- Facilitate publication of articles, journals, research papers and books.

10- Facilitate compilation of best practices on sustainable land and ecosystem management worldwide and dissemination to the national and international stakeholders.

11- Collaborate with international agencies for effective knowledge exchange related to assessment of land degradation status, LDN targets, SLM practices, drought risk and early warning system, sand and dust storms, land degradation induce force migration and displacement, gender mainstreaming, good governance of land tenure and land rights, land induced greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss.

12- Dissemination of training and knowledge to international stakeholders on above issues in line with understanding and achievement of sustainable development goals.

Core Thematic Areas

1- Identification and mapping of land degradation areas in the country

2- Biodiversity conservation and management

3- Eco-restoration of degraded land and ecosystem

4- Assessing impact of climate change and developing mitigation strategies

5- Conduct research and develop strategies for Sustainable Land Management

6- Identification of local-led, research based- best practices for LDN

7- Fostering gender diversity and social inclusion in SLM

8- Dissemination of knowledge and technologies related to SLM

Geographical Jurisdiction

All the States and Union Territories of India.

Key Achievements

Research
Capacity Building and Trainings

i. Training for national and international participants on SLM

ii. Beginners and advanced level training for national and international participants on RS-GIS applications in SLM

iii. Training on UNCCD reporting using Trends.Earth and PRAIS4 portal

Reports and Publications

i. UNCCD Conference of Parties Decision Documents Volume I (COP 1 to 7), Year 2022

ii. UNCCD Conference of Parties Decision Documents Volume II (COP 8 to 14), Year 2022

iii. Sustainable Land Management Practices to Prevent Land Degradation, Special Issue in The Indian Forester Journal, Year 2023

iv. Compendium of Sustainable Land Management Practices, Year 2023

v. Technical Paper on Pathways to Achieve Land Degradation Neutrality in India, Year 2023.

vi. NAP to Combat Desertification and Land Degradation Through Forestry Interventions, 2022 (contributed in the preparation of the report).

Ongoing Projects

i. UNCCD National Land Degradation and Desertification reporting, 2022

Completed Projects

Collaborations

The CoE-SLM has initiated collaboration with national and international organizations, such as:

i. United Nations Conventions to Combat Desertification, Bonn, Germany

ii. International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland

iii. Space Applications Centre, ISRO, Ahmedabad, Gujarat

iv. National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad, Telangana

v. Forest Survey of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand

People

	Sh. Vinay Kumar, IFS Director, CoE-SLM Phone: +91-135-2756497, 2224831(O), Fax: +91-135-2756497 E-mail: dir_pic[at]icfre[dot]gov[dot]in
	Dr. Rajesh Sharma Head and Scientist G, CoE-SLM Phone: +91-135-2224827(O) , 2224586 (R), +91-9418164067(M) Fax: +91-135-2750297 E-mail: adg_pf[at]icfre[dot]gov[dot]in, adg_bcc[at]icfre[dot]gov[dot]in
	Dr.Sanjeev Kumar Scientist E Phone: +91-135-222-4335(O), +91- 9798967363(M) E-mail: bhatiask[at]icfre[dot]gov[dot]in, san.forester[at]gmail[dot]com
	Dr.Manish Kumar Singh Scientist E Phone: +91-135-222-4446(O), +91- 7896131217(M) E-mail: mksingh[at]icfre[dot]gov.in singhmk21783[at]gmail[got]com
	Dr.Hanshraj Sharma Scientist E Phone: +91-135-222-4446(O), +91- 7005846355(M) E-mail: hansraj[at]icfre[dot]gov[dot]in, hrajmandi[at]gmail[dot]com
	Dr.Sanjay Singh Scientist 'E' Phone: +91-135-222-4338(O), +91- 9926409009 E-mail: sanjaysn[at]icfre[dot]org
	Dr.Krishna Giri Scientist 'D' Phone: +91-135-222-4447(O), +91- 8471937519(M) E-mail: girik[at]icfre[dot]org
	Dr.Gaurav Mishra Scientist 'D' Phone: +91-135-222-4449(O), +91- 8471938089(M) E-mail: mishrag[at]icfre[dot]org
	Dr.Manoj Kumar Scientist 'D' Phone: +91-135-222-4334(O), +91- 8077413164(M) E-mail: kumarmanoj[at]icfre[dot]org, manojfri[at]gmail[dot]com
	Mukesh Bhatt Technical Officer Phone: +91-135-222-4450(O), +91-7500220446(M) E-mail:bhattm[at]icfre[dot]org
	Vinod Kumar Technician Phone: +91-135-222-4450(O), +91-9897076179(M) E-mail:vkumar_fri[at]icfre[dot]gov[dot]in