India, June 18 -- India has already brought 21.76 million hectares of land under restoration efforts against its Bonn Challenge target of restoring 26 million hectares by 2030, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Wednesday. The Bonn Challenge is a global initiative launched in 2011 to restore degraded and deforested landscapes, with a target to bring 350 million hectares under restoration by 2030.

"Restoration activities have generated around 1.22 billion person-days of employment," Yadav said at an event to commemorate the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. The minister highlighted that more than 27 million hectares have been treated under the watershed development component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee ...