Experts highlighted the urgent need to focus on the world’s Northern forests during COP16 to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at Cali, Colombia. 

• Northern forests, particularly boreal and temperate ecosystems, in Europe, North America, and Russia, account for 30% of global forest cover and yet only 10% are protected.

About Boreal Forests

• Also known as Taiga, forms a circumpolar belt between latitudes 50° N to 70° N.
• Frost-hardy conifer species such as spruce, pine, fir dominate.

About Temperate Forests

• Extend until 50° latitude from tropics in both Southern and Northern Hemisphere.
• Characterized by cold winters and dominated by broadleaved trees like oaks, pine, and eucalypti. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifts Sohrai Painting to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin during BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia.

About Sohrai painting

• Practiced mainly in mural art form in Hazaribagh district, Jharkhand.
• During Sohrai, a local festival, local tribal women make these paintings on walls of their mud houses.
• Features: 
  • Known for their use of natural pigments and simple tools.
  • Artists often use brushes made from twigs, rice straw, or even fingers to create intricate designs.
  • Depiction of animals, birds, and nature is a reflection of the agrarian lifestyle and the reverence for wildlife in tribal culture.
• Sohrai-Khovar Paintings have also been awarded GI tag.

Indian Railways & Ministry of Women & Child Development launched revised Standard Operating Procedure(SOP) for protection of vulnerable children.

• This comprehensive SOP outlines a robust framework for safeguarding children who come into contact with Indian Railways.

Other Initiative for Safeguarding Children by Indian Railway:

• Operation AAHT: Nationwide operation to curb human trafficking, which has been Instrumental in rescuing over 2,300 children and apprehending 674 traffickers since 2022.
• Operation Nanhe Farishte: Mission dedicated to rescuing children in need of care and protection across various Indian Railway Zones.

Union Home Minister inaugurated a new Passenger Terminal Building and a Maitri Dwar in Petrapole, West Bengal, built by Land Port Authority of India.

About Land Port Authority of India (LPAI):

• LPAI is a statutory body under Department of Border Management, Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Objective: It is responsible for functions related to land port operations and administration.
  • Land Ports are areas on international borders notified as land customs stations or immigration check posts, with facilities for clearance and transport of passengers and goods.
  • Currently, there are 12 land ports being operated in India.
• LPAI is also responsible for establishing, operating and managing Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) along land borders of India.
  • ICP is a single complex that houses all regulatory agencies facilitating trade and commerce while also addressing security concerns.

The seventh ASW SWC - Abhay, built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) for the Indian Navy has been launched.

• This ASW SWC ship has been designed with over 80% indigenous content, thereby Promoting Self reliance or Atma-Nirbharta.

About ASW SWC:

• ASW SWCs are designed for anti-submarine operations in coastal waters, low-Intensity Maritime Operations (LIMO), and mine-laying activities.
• These ships are approx 77 m long, with a maximum speed of 25 knots & endurance of 1800 NM.
• Significance: Countering emerging threats, promoting strategic relationship & increased defense capabilities.

Recent satellite imagery reveals a significant military buildup by China on Triton Island.

About Triton island:

• Located in the Paracel Island(South China Sea), it is also known as  Xisha Islands in China.
• It is effectively controlled by China but is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.
• China took control of the Paracels from South Vietnam following a 1974 naval clash.
• Military buildup on Triton Island represents a significant escalation in China’s strategy to establish military dominance in the South China Sea.

Chennai’s coastline recently experienced phenomenon of bioluminescence.

• Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism.
  • Light emitted by a bioluminescent organism is produced by energy released from chemical reactions occurring inside (or ejected by) the organism.
• Bioluminescence is very common in the ocean and most common among fish, squid, and gelatinous zooplankton – jellyfish, comb jellies, and other animals.
• While usually blue in colour, bioluminescence can range from nearly violet to green-yellow (and very occasionally red).
• Some organisms absorb light, transform it, and eject it as a different colour. This phenomenon is called bioflourescence.

A dense forest created at 8,000 ft in Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, using the Miyawaki method has achieved 93% success rate. 

About Miyawaki method

• Miyawaki method is a reforestation technique developed by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki.
• It is based on the concept of Potential Natural Vegetation (PNV).
  • It deals with the regeneration of a forest by closely planting a variety of tree species, best suited for the specified locality.
• Benefits: High tree density, mitigation of noise and air pollution, help in carbon sequestration, mitigating climate change, and restore degraded land. 
• Limitations: Limited genetic diversity, resource intensive, not suitable for all locations.

Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) marks the 10^th anniversary of the Forest Ecosystem Restoration Initiative (FERI).

About FERI

• Launched as a partnership between the Korea Forest Service (KFS) and the CBD Secretariat.
• Implemented by CBD Secretariat. 
• Designed to assist developing countries in operationalizing national targets and plans for ecosystem conservation and restoration in line with Aichi Biodiversity Targets 5, 14 and 15.
• It supports the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).
• FERI’s initiatives:
  • Adoption of a Short-Term Action Plan on Ecosystem Restoration (STAPER), at COP13 in 2016.
  • WePlan – Forests Platform: A decision support tool for tropical forest ecosystem restoration.