Desertification Cell of MoEF&CC

India became a signatory to UNCCD on 14 October 1994 and ratified it on 17 December 1996. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the nodal Ministry in the Government of India for the UNCCD, and Desertification Cell is the Focal Point within the MoEF&CC to co-ordinate all issues pertaining to UNCCD. The Desertification Cell undertakes activities to help strengthen inter-ministerial coordination, build scientific and technical capacity, and facilitate knowledge sharing by bringing diverse stakeholder groups together that will lay the foundation for undertaking activities for combating desertification and mitigating the effects of droughts. After ratification in 1996, India prepared its National Action Programme (NAP) to Combat Desertification and submitted to the UNCCD Secretariat in 2001. NAP 2001 provides an overview of the status of natural resources in the country, the status and impacts of desertification, measures under implementation and, the initiatives taken to combat desertification. India has already undertaken several schemes and programs in the recent past to address the issue of Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought (DLDD) and and the aspirational target of achieving Land Degradation Neutrality by 2030.