UN World Restoration Flagships

16.02.2024

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Why in the news?

The United Nations named seven initiatives from across Africa, Latin America, the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia as the intergovernmental organization’s World Restoration Flagships.

About UN World Restoration Flagships:

• The World Restoration Flagship is part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration – led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
• It aims to prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean.
• The award conferred by the UNEP and FAO of the UN makes the initiatives eligible for technical and financial support from the organization. 
• The awards track notable initiatives that provide support to global commitments in order to restore one billion hectares.

The seven initiatives are

○The Restoring Mediterranean Forests Initiative: It involves the countries of Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Türkiye.

○It consists of a novel approach said to have protected and restored natural habitats and vulnerable ecosystems. It is also said to have led to around two million hectares of forests restored across the region since 2017.

○The Living Indus initiative received approval from the Pakistan parliament in the wake of the devastating 2022 climate change-induced floods.

○Its official launch took place at the 27th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Sharm el-Sheikh.

○It designates the Indus River as a living entity with rights — a measure taken to protect rivers elsewhere as well.

○The Acción Andina social movement led by Peruvian conservation non-profit ECOAN aims to protect and restore a forest area of one million hectares.

○The Sri Lanka Mangrove Regeneration initiative: It is a science-driven programme co-led by local communities. It focuses on the restoration of natural balance in the ecosystem

○The Terai Arc Landscape initiative: It is aimed to restore the forests of critical corridors of the Terai Arc Landscape in collaboration with local communities working as citizen scientists, community-based anti-poaching units, forest guards, among others.

○“It also supported the tiger population in the landscape shared by India and Nepal, which increased today to 1,174.

○Regreening Africa’s agriculture: It is expected to benefit over 6,00,000 households.

○Growing forests in Africa's drylands initiative: It aims to expand from 41,000 restored hectares today to 229,000 hectares by 2030.

                                                      Source: Down to earth