Environment Current Affairs- Quick Revision Module(Important Topics)

FOREST PLUS 2.0

• launched by USAID + MoEF&CC
• 5 year programme that focuses on developing tools and techniques to bolster ecosystem management  and harnessing ecosystem services in forest  landscape management.
• The Forest-PLUS focused on capacity building to help India participate in Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+).
• USAID developed an innovative decision support tool for evidence based fuelwood management called iFoReST.
• Redd+ is an important topic for Prelims

Bio-briquetting(Sikkim)

Bio-briquetting is a process through which biomass waste can be easily converted into high-density fuel briquettes. This can serve as substitutes for fuelwood to meet household-level cooking and heating needs.

Miyawaki-style afforestation technique- Kerala govt

• by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki.
• It involves raising indigenous and native trees in  dense plantations mimicking forest settings- results in denser forests faster.

M-Hariyali

• Mobile app launched by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs   to encourage public engagement in planting trees and Green drives .
• Automatic geo tagging of plants

UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION (UNCCD)

• 14th CoP hosted in New DElhi- first time in India
• India has taken CoP presidency till 2021 from China,for 2 years
• Peace Forest Initiative is an initiative by South Korea to provide a practical platform that will foster international collaboration by demonstrating the value of achieving land degradation neutrality in cross-border post-conflict situations.
• United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030)
• Drought Toolbox is currently being developed as part of the Drought Initiative through the close partnership among UNCCD, WMO, FAO, GWP, National Drought Mitigation Centre (NDMC) of the University of Nebraska, and UNEP-DHI . It is a is a sort of knowledge bank, which contains tools that  strengthen the ability of countries and communities to anticipate and prepare for drought .

UNCCD

• Established in 1994, the convention is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management and to address the problem of  desertification-  addresses specifically the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas.
• 3 Rio conventions (1992) adopted by United Nations- UNFCCC ,UNCCD and CBD.

Deemed Forests

Forests which are neither recorded, nor notified. The Supreme Court had  rdered that the states identify and classify these as deemed forests – about 1% of the country’s forests.

‘Wastelands Atlas’ – 2019

• released by Rural development ministry,carried out by National Remote Sensing centre.
• provides district and state wise distribution of different categories of wastelands are,including whole JnK

Soil Organic Carbon

• Its the carbon associated with the soil organic matter,found in top soil.
• One of the three global indicators of Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN).
• Important in  preventing land degradation and  desertification.

PAYMENT FOR ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

• It involves payments to the managers of land or other natural resources in exchange for the provision of specified ecosystem services over-and-above what would otherwise be provided in the absence of payment.
• First ever PES agreement was signed between the Village Forest Development Society (VFDS) and the Palampur Municipal Council (PMC) ,Himachal Pradesh.
• ‘Beneficiary pays principle’

(We have provided article in Pro section on terms related to Green Economy)

Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)

• Independent intergovernmental body, established in 2012 to strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services .
• India is a member. 
• IPBES does not produce any new science, but evaluates existing scientific knowledge.
• IPBES released Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem services.
• Key points of the report-
• Rate of global change in nature during the past 50 years is unprecedented.
• Most impactful factors for this change: changes in land and sea use; direct exploitation of organisms; climate change; pollution; and invasion of alien species.
• 75% of Earth’s land surface and 66% marine  environments have been “significantly altered”, and  that “over 85%” of wetland area had been lost.

(Read about Aitchi targets)

Global Futures Report

• released jointly by the World Wide Fund for Nature, The Global Trade Analysis Project and the Natural Capital Project.
• In 2017, WWF initiated the ‘Global Futures’ project to enhance awareness among global political and business leaders of the risks to economic prosperity due to global environmental degradation.
• It links 2 existing models-
• 1. Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model.
• 2. Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model 

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK

• Draft Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) is part of a World Bank-funded project named ENCORE (Enhancing Coastal and Ocean Resource Efficiency Program) which aims to strengthen integrated coastal zone management program (ICZMP) in all coastal States and Union Territories of India.

Bio rock technology

• Bio rock is the name given to the substance formed by electro accumulation of minerals dissolved in seawater on steel structures that are lowered onto the sea- bed and are connected to a power source.
• Used for coral reefs restoration.

(We have mentioned that Coral reefs is an important topics for Prelims,along with mangroves and provided an article on it in Pro section)

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