Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination (Topic: Protected Planet Report 2020)

Current Affairs Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination

Topic: Protected Planet Report 2020

Militarisation of the Arctic

Why in News?

Recently, a report titled ""Protected Planet Report 2020" has been issued by United Nations Environment Programme - World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with support from the National Geographic Society.

Key Highlights of the Report

The report underlined the progress the world has made toward the ambitious goals agreed by countries in 2010 at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.
To conserve 17 per cent of land and inland water ecosystems and 10 per cent of its coastal waters and oceans by 2020, known as Aichi Biodiversity Target 11, a set of 20 targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
As many as 82 per cent of countries and territories increased their share of protected area and coverage of other effective area-based conservation measures (OECM) since 2010.
Since OECMs were first recorded in 2019, these areas have added a further 1.6 million km2 to the global network. Despite being limited to only five countries and territories, the available data on OECMs already show that they make a significant contribution to coverage and connectivity. Of the area now covered by protected areas and OECMs, 42% was added in the past decade.
OECM are a conservation designation for areas that are achieving the effective in-situ conservation of biodiversity outside of protected areas.
On an average, 62.6 per cent of key biodiversity areas (KBA) either fully or partially overlap with protected areas and OECMs.
KBAs are sites that contribute significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity, in terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems.
The average percentage of each KBA within protected areas and OECMs is 4 3 . 2 per cent for terrestrial; 42.2 per cent for inland water and 44.2 per cent for marine (within national waters).
There was an increase of 5 percentage points or less in each case since 2010, the greatest growth in marine and coastal areas.

Challenges

Governance is a key contributor to effective conservation. Both protected areas and OECMs can have a variety of governance regimes: government, private, governance by indigenous peoples and local communities, or any combination of these.
Data are still poor on governance diversity and quality for protected areas and OECMs.
Integrating protected areas and OECMs across landscapes and seascapes, and in development sectors, remains a crucial challenge for ensuring the persistence of biodiversity.
Measurable targets for integrated land-use and marine spatial planning are needed to facilitate progress.

Way Forward

A global network of effective and equitable protected and conserved areas will play a vital role in safeguarding the health of people and planet for generations to come.
The report also called for existing protected and conserved areas to be identified and recognised by accounting for the efforts of indigenous peoples, local communities and private entities.