UN Honors Seven World Restoration Flagships

Context:

Recently, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) have named seven initiatives from Africa, Latin America, the Mediterranean, and Southeast Asia as UN World Restoration Flagships. 

• Restoration of Devastated Land: These initiatives include ecosystems at the tipping point of outright degradation resulting from wildfires, drought, deforestation, and pollution. 
• Technical and Financial Support: These initiatives are eligible for technical and financial UN support.

About Recently Recognized Seven World Restoration Flagships 

• From Fires to Forests – Resilience in the Mediterranean: This Initiative involves Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Türkiye.
  • Consists: A novel approach to protect and restore these natural habitats and vulnerable ecosystems and has led to around two million hectares of forests being restored across the region since 2017, with over eight million hectares planned for restoration by 2030.
• Living Indus – Restoring a Cradle of Civilizations: This initiative was approved by Pakistan’s parliament in the wake of the devastating 2022 climate-change-induced floods and was officially launched at the UN Climate Change Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh (COP27). 
  • Aim: It aims to restore 25 million hectares of river basin by 2030. 
  • A Living Entity: It designates the Indus River as a living entity with rights, a measure taken to protect rivers elsewhere, including in Australia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, India, New Zealand, Peru, and Sri Lanka.
• Acción Andina – Saving a Global Water and Climate Hotspot: This social movement is led by the Peruvian conservation non-profit organization, ECOAN (Association Ecosistemas Andinos). 
  • Aim: To protect and restore a one million hectares forest area.
  • Security: It also works to secure land titles for local communities, protecting the forest from future mining, timber exploitation and other drivers of degradation.
• The Sri-Lanka Mangrove Regeneration Initiative: It is science-driven, co-led by local communities, and focused on restoring the natural balance in the ecosystem. Since its launch in 2015, efforts have already resulted in 500 hectares of restored mangroves. 
  • Target: Some 10,000 hectares are slated for restoration by 2030.
  • Benefit: More than 4,000 new jobs to be created.
• Terai Arc Landscape: Reviving Asia’s Mega-Fauna: This initiative was launched in 2001 and has focused on restoring the forests of critical corridors of the Terai Arc Landscape and collaborates with local communities. 
  • Aim: To restore 350,000 hectares of forests by 2030.
  • Area Covered: It stretches between the Yamuna in the west and the Bhagmati in the east.
  • Deals: It aims to conserve and protect tigers, along with rhinos and elephants, due to poaching, habitat loss, degradation, and human-wildlife conflict.
• The Regreening Africa initiative: It was adapted to restore over 350,000 hectares in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, and Somalia. 
  • Aim: By 2030, a further five million hectares are planned to be restored.
• Growing Forests in Africa’s Drylands: Under this initiative, through researched agroforestry techniques, unsustainable farming practices are replaced and nature regenerates.
• • Aim: By planting tens of millions of trees every year, it aims at expanding from 41,000 restored hectares today to 229,000 hectares by 2030.
  • Benefit: Supporting many more through 230,000 jobs created.

News Source: FAO