DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS Time: 45 Min. Date: 24-05-2021 Biodiversity and Environment Protected Planet Report 2020 Syllabus: GS 2, International Organisations & Groupings, United Nations, its Bodies & Agencies, Important International Institutions, GS 3, Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment. In News: Recently, the Protected Planet Report 2020 has been published. About the Report ● Published by ○ United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). ○ International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). ○ Support from the National Geographic Society (global non-profit). ● It underlined the progress the world has made toward the ambitious Aichi Biodiversity Target 11. ○ These are a set of 20 targets set and agreed by countries in 2010 at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. ○ It aimed to conserve 17 per cent of land and inland water ecosystems and 10 per cent of its coastal waters and oceans by 2020. ○ A new framework of goals is due to be agreed upon at the UN Biodiversity Conference in Kunming, China (to be held in October 2021). ● The report provided a strong starting point from which to begin working towards these ambitious goals. ● It is the first in the series to include data on ‘Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures’ (OECMs) in addition to protected areas. ○ OECMs are a conservation designation for areas that are achieving the effective in-situ conservation of biodiversity outside of protected areas. 1 Image Courtesy: Sciencedirect Major Findings ● As many as 82 per cent of countries and territories have increased their share of protected area and coverage of OECM since 2010. ● Since 2010, over 21 million square kilometres have been placed within protected and conserved areas, meaning that 42 per cent of the area now within protected and conserved areas has been added in the last decade. ● As a result, at least 22.5 million square kilometres (16.64 per cent) of land and inland water ecosystems and 28.1 million square kilometers (7.74 per cent) of coastal waters and the ocean are within protected areas and OECMs as of May 2021. ● On an average, 62.6 percent 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 43.2 per cent for terrestrial; 42.2 percent for inland water and 44.2 percent 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. Suggestions ● It calls for existing protected and conserved areas to be identified and recognised by accounting for the efforts of indigenous peoples, local communities and private entities. ● A global network of effective and equitable protected and conserved areas will play a vital role in safeguarding the health of people and the planet for generations to come. 2 ● Protected and conserved areas need to be managed effectively and efficiently to prevent further ecosystem degradation and consolidate progress on the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030). United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Centre ● It is a collaboration between the UNEP and the UK charity, WCMC. ● Mission: To provide authoritative information about biodiversity and ecosystem services in a way that is useful to decision makers who are driving change in environment and development policy. ● It works with scientists and policy makers to enable enlightened choices for people and the planet. ● It has experience of working with decision makers at national, regional and local scales in the following sectors: Environment, Climate change, Agriculture, Oil, Gas, Mining, Finance, Fisheries, Aquaculture and Tourism. ● It is based in Cambridge, UK. International Union for Conservation of Nature ● It is a democratic Union that brings together the world’s most influential organisations and top experts in a combined effort to conserve nature and accelerate the transition to sustainable development. ● It harnesses the experience, resources and reach of its more than 1,400 member organisations and the input of more than 18,000 experts. ● Every four years, it convenes the IUCN World Conservation Congress where IUCN Members set the global conservation agenda by voting on recommendations and guide the Secretariat’s work by passing resolutions and the IUCN Programme. ● The IUCN Council is the principal governing body of IUCN between sessions of the World Conservation Congress. ● Headquarters: Gland, near Geneva, Switzerland. UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration ● It challenges everyone to massively scale up restoration efforts that breathe new life into our degraded ecosystems. ● It will be officially launched on the World Environment Day (5th June) 2021. ○ It runs from 2021 through 2030, which is also the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the timeline scientists have identified as the last chance to prevent catastrophic climate change. ● Aims ○ To prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean. ○ To end poverty, combat climate change and prevent a mass extinction. ● It is led by the UNEP and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Source: DTE 3 Indian History Raja Ram Mohan Roy: Father of Indian Renaissance Syllabus: GS1/Personalities In News: Recently, the 249th birth anniversary of Raja Ram Mohan Roy was celebrated. Raja Ram Mohan Roy Early life ● He was born on 22 May 1772 in a Hindu Brahmin family in Radhanagar village in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, Bengal. ● He studied Persian and Arabic along with Sanskrit, which influenced his thinking about God. He read Upanishads, Vedas and the Quran and translated a lot of the scriptures into English ● He worked as a moneylender in Calcutta, and from 1809 to 1814 and served in the Revenue Department of the East India Company. ● Gopal Krishna Gokhale called him the ‘Father of Modern India’. ● Several historians consider him as one of the pioneers of the Indian Renaissance. ● He was bestowed with the title of Raja by Akbar II, the Mughal emperor. Image courtesy: Explore art Social Reforms and Ideology ● He opposed superstitious practices, customs such as Sati, polygamy, child marriage, the rigidity of the caste system and its excesses, and sought property inheritance rights for women. ● He was in favour of inter-caste marriages, women’s education and widow remarriages ● In 1814, he formed Atmiya Sabha (Friendly Society). ○ Atmiya Sabha tried to initiate social and religious reforms in the society. ● In 1828,he set up the Brahmo Samaj, a reformist movement of the Hindu religion that aimed at fighting social evils that were prevalent in society. 4 Brahmo Samaj ● Raja Ram Mohan Roy founded Brahmo Sabha in 1828, which was later renamed as Brahmo Samaj. ● Its chief aim was the worship of the eternal God. It was against priesthood, rituals and sacrifices. ● It focused on prayers, meditation and reading of the scriptures. ● It believed in the unity of all religions. ● It was the first intellectual reform movement in modern India. ● It led to the emergence of rationalism and enlightenment in India which indirectly contributed to the nationalist movement. ● It was the forerunner of all social, religious and political movements of modern India. ● It split into two in 1866, namely Brahmo Samaj of India led by Keshub Chandra Sen and Adi Brahmo Samaj led by Debendranath Tagore. ● Prominent Leaders: Debendranath Tagore, Keshub Chandra Sen, Pt. Sivnath Shastri, and Rabindranath Tagore ● He actively opposed the Sati system. ● As a result of his hard work in fighting Sati, the governor of the Bengal Presidency, Lord William Bentinck, formally banned the practice in the year 1829. ● In 1830, Raja Ram Mohan Roy traveled to the United Kingdom as an ambassador of the Mughal Empire to ensure that Lord William Bentinck’s Bengal Sati Regulation, 1829 banning the practice of Sati was not overturned. Educational Reform ● He advocated the study of English, Science, Western Medicine and Technology. ● He established a number of schools to popularise a modern education system in India ● He was instrumental in setting up several institutions including the Hindu College in Calcutta in 1817, in collaboration with David Hare; the Anglo-Hindu School in 1822; and the Vedanta College to spread his teachings of Hindu monotheism. ● He also helped establish the Scottish Church College in 1830. Economic and Political Reforms ● Raja Ram Roy was impressed and admired the British system of constitutional government for the civil liberties it gave to the people. He wanted to extend the benefits of that system of government to Indian people. ● He supported the movement for free press in India. Writings ● He published his first book Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidin (A Gift to Monotheism) in 1803. 5 ● He started the first Bengali language weekly newspaper and the first newspaper in an Indian language, called Sambad Kaumudi, in 1821. ○ The weekly newspaper advocated reading habits, the importance of discussion as well as the need for education for all. ● He published an English weekly called the Bengal Gazette and a Persian newspaper called Miratul-Akbar. Taxation Reforms ● He condemned oppressive practices of Bengali zamindars and demanded fixation of minimum rents. He also