Chandigarh, Feb 5 (IANS): Union Minister for Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav has congratulated Haryana for its work in restoring the Aravalli landscape.

In a letter to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, the Union minister lauded the efforts made by the state government because of which the Aravalli Biodiversity Park in Gurugram, which is ecologically restored, has been identified as the first other effective areas-based conservation measures of the country under Aichi Target II of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

It has been reported to the world database on protected areas.

"I take this opportunity to congratulate the state of Haryana in restoring Aravalli landscape and inform that other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) is the new era of conservation approach where effective in-situ conservation of biodiversity is achieved mainly through effective landscape management lying outside forests and protected areas," says the letter.

"A wide range of sites in India has the potential to become OECMs and I am looking forward to you bringing more such landscapes under the OECMs category in the state of Haryana," adds the letter.