GENERAL ARTICLES CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 108, NO. 1, 10 JANUARY 2015 39 The authors are at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal 462 038, India. *For correspondence. (e-mail: nklenka@rediffmail.com) Scientific endeavours for natural resource management in India N. K. Lenka*, Sangeeta Lenka and A. K. Biswas Natural resource management (NRM) based on scientific principles plays a crucial role for an inclusive and sustainable growth in India. The shrinking per capita natural resources leads to intensive land use and results in further environmental degradation. This calls for developing agroecoregion-specific land-use plans based on homogeneity in soil, water and climatic features in a particular region and managing a particular land unit on watershed basis involving the local community. This article consolidates information on the science-based efforts made by the Govern- ment of India through various scientific establishments and science-led development schemes for NRM over time. Despite the existence of a number of institutions for NRM research, there is hardly any coordination across the Departments and Ministries. The missing links in NRM research are discussed in this article keeping in view the emphasis of the government and the importance of natural resources in promoting inclusive and sustainable growth in India. Keywords: Land degradation, matural resources, soil and water conservation, watershed management. THE importance of natural resources, comprising land, water and vegetation, is higher than ever before for the need to ensure sustainability in the face of changing climate, increased biotic pressure and declining resource productivity. Economic growth can be inclusive only if the natural resources are sustainably managed. Recogniz- ing the national imperatives for sustainable use of natural resources across varied ecosystems, the Approach Paper to the 12th Five-Year Plan has included a separate chapter on ‘Sustainable management of natural resources’. The Approach Paper aptly notes that ‘Economic development will be sustainable only if it is pursued in a manner which protects the environment. With acceleration of economic growth, these pressures are expected to intensify, and we therefore, need to pay greater attention to the manage- ment of natural resources, viz. water, forests and land.’ With only 2.4% of the world’s land area, India is home to 16% of the world human population and contributes immensely to global biodiversity with about 8% of total number of species 1 . India is recognized as a mega bio- diverse country and has four identified bio-hotspots, viz. the Himalaya hotspot, the North East of India, the rain- forests of the Western Ghats and the Andaman & Nicobar Island chain. According to the livestock census of 2003, the country has about 485 million livestock population and 489 million poultry population, being the first in cattle and buffalo population, second in respect of goat and third in respect of sheep population in the world. India has 57% of the world’s buffalo and 16% of the world’s cattle population. This means there is not only human population but also livestock population pressure on the shrinking natural resources. Though India is bestowed with 4% of the world’s freshwater resources, the distribution is highly skewed across regions. The Ganga–Brahmaputra–Meghna basin with 33% of the land mass has 60% of total water flows, while the western coastline with 3% of the area has another 11%. This leaves just 29% of water resources in the remaining 64% of the area (peninsular India), thus keeping most of peninsular India water-starved compared to other parts of the country 2 . Land degradation continues to be a threat to the food and nutrition security of the country. According to the latest estimate by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi and National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), out of total geographical area of 328.73 m ha, about 120 m ha (37%) is affected by various kinds of land degradation 3 . This is based on a harmonized database prepared from integration and streamlining of the land-based and remotely-sensed data on the status of degraded and wastelands. A harmonized database was essential in view of the widely differing esti- mates made earlier by different agencies such as the National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSS&LUP); National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad; Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), New Delhi; National Wasteland Development Board, etc. The recent estimate has an edge over the earlier ones in terms of