UN adopts 'historic' high seas treaty

GS Paper - 3 (Environment)

The world's first international treaty to protect the high seas was adopted at the United Nations, a landmark environmental accord designed to protect remote ecosystems vital to humanity. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed as a "historic achievement" the treaty that will establish a legal framework to extend swathes of environmental protections to international waters, which make up more than 60 percent of the world's oceans.

More about the Treaty

• The treaty is seen as crucial to countries protecting 30 percent of the world's oceans and lands by 2030, as agreed by world governments in a separate historic accord reached in Montreal in December.
• The treaty, officially known as the treaty on "Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction" or BBNJ, also introduces requirements to carry out environmental impact studies for proposed activities to be carried out in international waters.
• Such activities, while not listed in the text, would include anything from fishing and maritime transport to more controversial pursuits, like deep-sea mining or even geo-engineering programs aimed at fighting global warming.
• The treaty also establishes principles for sharing the benefits of "marine genetic resources" (MGR) collected by scientific research in international waters -- a sticking point that almost derailed last-minute negotiations in March.
• Developing countries, which often don't have the money to finance such expeditions, fought for benefit-sharing rights, hoping to not get left behind by what many see as a huge future market in the commercialization of MGR, especially by pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies searching for "miracle molecules."

Flashback

• Following more than 15 years of discussions, including four years of formal negotiations, UN member states finally agreed on the text for the treaty in March after a flurry of final, marathon talks.
• The text, since frozen, has been pored over by the UN's lawyers and translators to make sure it matches in the body's six official languages.
• Scientists have increasingly come to realize the importance of oceans, which produce most of the oxygen we breathe, limit climate change by absorbing CO2, and host rich areas of biodiversity, often at the microscopic level.
• But with so much of the world's oceans lying outside of individual countries' exclusive economic zones, and thus the jurisdiction of any single state, providing protection for the so-called "high seas" requires international cooperation.

Miyawaki forests method used in Mumbai

GS Paper - 3 (Environment)

To fight climate change, curb pollution levels, and increase the green cover of the financial capital, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been creating Miyawaki forests in several open land parcels of Mumbai. Miyawaki plantation, the Japanese method of creating dense urban forests in a small area.

What is the Miyawaki plantation method?

• Named after Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, this method involves planting two to four different types of indigenous trees within every square metre.
• In this method, the trees become self-sustaining and they grow to their full length within three years. The methodology was developed in the 1970s, with the basic objective to densify green cover within a small parcel of land.
• The plants used in the Miyawaki method are mostly self-sustaining and don’t require regular maintenance like manuring and watering.
• Over the years, this cost effective method has become the go-to solution for the civic body to restore the green cover in a space-starved city like Mumbai.

How is Miyawaki useful?

• The dense green cover of indigenous trees plays a key role in absorbing the dust particles of the area where the garden has been set up.
• The plants also help in regulating surface temperature. Some of the common indigenous plants that are used for these forests include Anjan, Amala, Bel, Arjun and Gunj.
• With several infrastructure projects like real estate metro rail construction in progress in Mumbai over the past few years, it was recorded that the surface temperature in certain pockets of Mumbai has increased. Therefore, to fight this challenge, such forests are being created.

Key milestone for Tapas UAV

GS Paper - 3 (Defence Technology)

In a key milestone, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said that the transfer of command and control capabilities of the Tapas unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was successfully demonstrated in collaboration with the Indian Navy.

What

• According to DRDO, the demonstration involved commanding the UAV from a distant ground station to the onboard INS Subhadra, a warship situated 148 km away from the Karwar naval base. The demonstration was carried out on 16 June 2023.
• The Tapas took off from the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) in Chitradurga, 285 km from the Karwar naval base and some 200 km from Bengaluru.
• The Tapas UAV operated flawlessly at an altitude of 20,000 feet above sea level. It completed a three-hour and 30-minute flight, with the INS Subhadra assuming control of Tapas’ operations for a duration of 40 minutes.
• One ground control station and two ship data terminals were installed on board the INS Subhadra. Following the successful trial, Tapas safely landed back at the ATR, DRDO said.
• DRDO describes Tapas as: “A MALE (medium-altitude long-endurance) UAV with an operating altitude of 30,000 ft, endurance of 24 hours with earth observation and SAR (synthetic aperture radar) payloads and a range of more than 250 kms”.
• Enabled to carry a variety of payloads up to a maximum of 350 kgs, the UAV is designed to perform intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance missions for Indian armed forces.
• Its mission requirements are to provide continuous wide area coverage and yet be able to identify small targets. It is comparable in the same class as Israeli HERON UAV.