- Why in news
- On 14 January 2026, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav inaugurated a national conference on Aravalli eco-restoration in New Delhi and released the Sankala Foundation report "Eco-restoration of the Aravalli Landscape".
- What it is
- The Aravalli Green Wall Project is a Environment Ministry initiative to restore degraded land in the Aravalli landscape by planting native species suited to arid and semi-arid conditions. It runs under the National Action Plan to Combat Desertification and Land Degradation and supports India's UNCCD land restoration target. The Aravallis are among the world's oldest fold mountain ranges, running from Gujarat through Rajasthan and Haryana to Delhi.
- Land identified
- 6.45 million hectares of degraded land in the Aravalli region identified; greening started on 2.7 million hectares.
- States covered
- Gujarat, Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan.
- Implementation
- Divisional Forest Officers of 29 Aravalli districts implement it, using native species.
- UNCCD target
- India has committed under the UNCCD to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land.
- Haryana Protected Forest
- About 97 sq km of degraded revenue land from Naurangpur to Nuh was declared a Protected Forest by Haryana.
- Protected areas
- The Aravalli ecosystem has four tiger reserves and 18 protected areas.
Don’t confuse with Aravalli Green Wall vs Great Green Wall: The Great Green Wall is an African initiative across the Sahel; the Aravalli Green Wall is India's own project in the Aravalli landscape.
Don’t confuse with UNCCD vs UNFCCC: UNCCD deals with desertification and land degradation; UNFCCC deals with climate change.
Environment: Prelims tests bodies, programmes and the law behind them; Mains asks why plans fall short.
Why it matters
- Restores degraded land and helps India meet its UNCCD target of 26 million hectares.
- Greening the Aravallis can check desertification spread towards the Indo-Gangetic plain and help the Delhi-NCR environment.
Problems
- Degradation pressure from mining, encroachment and urbanisation across four states.
- Survival of plantations in arid conditions and coordination across states.
Way forward
- Landscape-scale, data-driven, community-anchored restoration, as the Sankala report urges.
- Protect restored land legally, as Haryana did with its Protected Forest declaration.
Put in your answer
Aravalli restoration scale: 6.45 million hectares identified and 2.7 million hectares under greening across four states.
Haryana Protected Forest: Degraded revenue land of about 97 sq km was given Protected Forest status for afforestation.
- 2019Mains GS1 · Q15Restoring mountain ecosystems damaged by development and tourism.
- 2020Mains GS1 · Q5Does desertification have climatic boundaries? Justify with examples.
- 2016Mains GS1 · Q20How micro-watershed development helps water conservation in drought-prone semi-arid regions.
UPSC’s own questions that come close to this issue, from our Prelims and Mains banks.
Prelims practice · Single answer
Ours, not from a UPSC paper
Consider the following statements about the Aravalli Green Wall Project: 1. It is being implemented under the National Action Plan to Combat Desertification and Land Degradation. 2. Greening work under it has been started in Gujarat, Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan. 3. The project has identified 26 million hectares of degraded land in the Aravalli region. 4. The 97 sq km stretch from Naurangpur to Nuh was declared a Protected Forest by the Union government. Which of the statements given above are correct?
Which of the statements given above are correct?
True or false?
1 of 6
Statements the way Prelims prints them. Say first, then see the fact.
1.The Aravalli Green Wall Project is being implemented under the National Action Plan to Combat Desertification and Land Degradation.
True. The report says the project falls under this national action plan.
2.Greening work under the project has been initiated in Gujarat, Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan.
True. These four states are covered.
3.The project's restoration is carried out by Divisional Forest Officers of 29 Aravalli districts.
True. DFOs from 29 districts implement it.
4.The project focuses on plantation of fast-growing exotic species suited to arid conditions.
False. It focuses on native species suited to arid and semi-arid conditions.
5.India's commitment to restore degraded land is made under the UNCCD, the convention to combat desertification.
True. UNCCD is the land degradation convention; India's target is 26 million hectares.
6.The 97 sq km stretch from Naurangpur to Nuh was declared a Protected Forest by the Union government.
False. It was declared a Protected Forest by the State of Haryana.
Written by us from the release, not by UPSC; checked by a second model.
Source: PIB, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change., 14 Jan, 15:28 IST · Release 282244
Worth revising until Prelims 2027: most news questions come within two years of the event.