Environment & Ecology MCQs - 2026-09-01

Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) is a global target under the UNCCD, aiming to achieve a balance between the amount of land that is degraded and the amount of land that is restored. It seeks to ensure that the amount of healthy and productive land is maintained or increased, rather than eliminating all degradation, which is often not feasible.

All the mentioned programmes contribute significantly to combating desertification in India. The National Mission for Green India focuses on increasing forest and tree cover, PMKSY aims to improve water use efficiency in agriculture, and the National Afforestation Programme specifically targets afforestation in degraded forest lands, all of which are crucial for desertification control.

New initiatives for desertification control in 2026, aligned with UNCCD goals, typically encompass a multi-pronged approach. This includes promoting drought-resistant crops and water-efficient irrigation, undertaking large-scale afforestation, and crucially, integrating community participation and traditional knowledge for sustainable land management and restoration.

While industrial pollution control is crucial, the GCP primarily focuses on incentivizing direct environmental stewardship activities like afforestation, water conservation, waste management, and sustainable agriculture. Technological upgrades for pollution control, while beneficial, are not directly incentivized as a credit-generating activity under the current framework of GCP.

The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) has been designated as the primary agency responsible for developing and issuing guidelines for the registration of landowners and the generation of green credits under the GCP. This ensures scientific rigor and standardized methodologies.

The Green Credit Programme (GCP) aims to create a market-based mechanism to encourage environmentally positive actions. Its objectives include promoting afforestation, reforestation, sustainable agriculture, water conservation, waste management, and air pollution reduction, thereby facilitating the trading of environmental goods and services.