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MONTREAL, Dec. 13 (PTI) – A project aimed at improving the health of India’s holy river Ganga is one of 10 “groundbreaking” efforts around the world to be recognized by the United Nations for its role in restoring the natural world, according to a report by the United Nations on Tuesday. A report published during the Conference on Biodiversity (COP15).
These initiatives have been declared World Recovery Flagships and are eligible for UN-backed promotion, advice or funding.
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They were selected under the banner of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a global campaign coordinated by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The UN says it aims to prevent and reverse the degradation of natural spaces on Earth.
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The 10 flagship companies aim to restore more than 68 million hectares of land – an area larger than Myanmar, France or Somalia – and create nearly 15 million jobs, the UN said.
“Transforming our relationship with nature is key to reversing the triple planetary crisis of climate change, loss of nature and biodiversity, pollution and waste,” said Inger Anderson, Executive Director of UNEP.
“These 10 inaugural World Restoration Flagships demonstrate that with political will, science and cross-border cooperation, we can achieve the goals of the United Nations Decade of Ecosystem Restoration and build a more sustainable future not only for the planet but for those of us who call it Back home,” Andersen said here.
In the Ganges Revitalization Project, restoring the river’s health is the focus of reducing pollution, rebuilding forest cover and delivering broad benefits to the 520 million people who live around its vast watershed, the United Nations said. a statement.
Climate change, population growth, industrialization and irrigation have degraded the Ganges along its 2,525-kilometer arc from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal, it said.
“The government-led Namami Gange initiative was launched in 2014 to restore, protect and preserve the Ganges and its tributaries, reforest parts of the Ganges basin, and promote sustainable agriculture,” the statement said.
The project also aims to revive important wildlife species, including puffer fish, soft-shell turtles, otters and shad.
The initiative has invested up to $4.25 billion to date, involved 230 organizations and has restored 1,500 kilometers of rivers to date.
Furthermore, according to the United Nations, 30,000 hectares have been reforested so far, with a target of 134,000 hectares by 2030.
Other first-ever world restoration flagship projects include the tri-country Atlantic Forest Treaty, which aims to protect and restore forests in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, and the Abu Dhabi Marine Restoration Project, which protects the world’s second-largest dugong population.
The Great Green Wall Initiative for Restoration and Peace to restore savannahs, grasslands and farmlands in Africa, the Multi-Country Mountain Initiative based in Serbia, Kyrgyzstan, Uganda and Rwanda, and the SIDS focused on the three SIDS National Recovery Movements – Vanuatu, Saint Lucia and Comoros are also recognized.
Kazakhstan’s Alcindara Conservation Initiative aimed at restoring grassland, semi-desert and desert ecosystems, the Mesoamerican Dry Corridor and China’s Shanshui Initiative are other projects on the list.
In revealing the world’s restoration flagship, the UN Decade aims to recognize the best examples of large-scale and long-term ecosystem restoration, embodying the 10 Restoration Principles of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
The United Nations Decade recognizes the time needed for recovery to bear fruit.
By 2030, a regular call for World Restoration Flagships will be initiated.
In anticipation of increased funding for the UN Decade’s Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF), other submissions are being considered, including recovery drives from Pakistan, Peru, and an initiative targeting Somalia and other drought-affected countries.
Leaders and negotiators from 196 countries, including India, have gathered in Canada for a two-week meeting that is expected to result in a landmark agreement to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030.
Around 20,000 delegates from around the world will agree on an eight-year plan to protect and restore biodiversity during the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15), which runs from 7-19 December.
They will do this through the Convention on Biological Diversity, the treaty adopted for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and related issues.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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