Terai Arc Landscape

• The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO) have named seven initiatives as UN World Restoration Flagships.
• These initiatives will receive technical and financial UN support.
• The World Restoration Flagships are-
  • the Restoring Mediterranean Forest Initiative( Mediterranean basin is the world’s second-largest biodiversity hotspot;
  • Living Indus Initiative in Pakistan;
  • the Accion Andina social movement led by Peruvian conservation non-profit organisation ECOAN (Asociacion Ecosistemas Andinos);
  • the Sri Lanka Mangrove Regeneration Initiative;
  • the Regreening Africa initiative; and
  • the Forest Garden Program, launched in 2015, which includes multiple Forest Garden projects in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Gambia, Kenya, Mali, Senegal, Uganda, and Tanzania;
  • Terai Arc landscape

ABOUT TERAI ARC LANDSCAPE

• It is a trans-boundary biodiversity hotspot, launched in 2001 shared by India and Nepal.
• It extends from the Bagmati River (Nepal) in the east to the Yamuna River (India) in the west stretching over 900 km.
• The Terai Arc Landscape, stretching across 10 million hectares, is home to over seven million people and one of the world’s most critical habitats for tigers.
  • However, the tiger population has sharply declined, along with those of other species such as rhinos and elephants, due to poaching, habitat loss, degradation, and human-wildlife conflict.
• The Terai Arc Landscape Initiative focuses on restoring the forests of critical corridors of the Terai Arc Landscape and collaborates with local communities working as citizen scientists, community-based anti-poaching units, forest guards, and social mobilisers.

ABOUT WORLD RESTORATION FLAGSHIP AWARDS

• The World Restoration Flagship awards are part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
• UNEP and FAO lead this initiative, which aims to prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean.
• The awards celebrate notable initiatives that support global commitments to restore one billion hectares.