SYLLBUS SECTION: GS III (ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY)
WHY IN THE NEWS?
According to a new report, wetland conservation should feature as an independent topic of discussion in the negotiations at the upcoming biodiversity,
And the climate change conferences for effective carbon sequestration.
- The suggestions come in the run up to the 15th Conference of Parties (CoP15) to the Convention on Biological conservation upcoming Biodiversity, to be held in Montreal, Canada and the 27th Conference of Parties (CoP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Egypt later this year.
- Experts from the Wetlands International, a global non-profit, in a new white paper suggested five global, science-based conservation efforts to protect and restore wetlands.
- The five suggest targets to be achieve by 2030 include:
- Remaining, undrain peatland carbon stores should be kept intact and 10 million hectares of drain peatlands need should be restore
- Global mangrove cover of 20 per cent
- Preservation of free-flowing rivers and flood plains, along with enhancement of restoring floodplain ecosystem and its function in the area
- 10 per cent increase of west African river Volta in tidal flats area
- Identification of 50 per cent of the 7,000 critically important sites along the flyways to be brought under favourable management
- The actions are especially urgent since CoP15 was delay four times and the planet is facing an ecological emergency with global destruction of biodiversity, the non-profit mention.
- A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded by water, either permanently or seasonally. These arethe areas where water is the primary factor controlling the environment and the associated plant and animal life.
SIGNIFICANCE OF WETLANDS:
- The wetlands account for just six per cent of the plant but are home to 40 per cent of world’s plant and animals.
- 200 new species are found in freshwater wetlands and are responsible for sequestering almost one third of the global soil carbon.
- Wetlands’ microbes, plants and wildlife are part of global cycles for water, nitrogen and sulphur.
- More than one billion people depend on them for a living and 40% of the world’s species live and breed in wetlands.
- Wetlands are a vital source for food, raw materials, genetic resources for medicines, and hydropower.
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