Tree Cities Of The World – Burning Issues – Free PDF Download

• Mumbai and Hyderabad have been jointly recognised as ‘2021 Tree City of the World’ by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (UN-FAO) and Arbor Day Foundation.

• According to the officials from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) garden department, Mumbai received recognition for its “commitment to growing and maintaining urban trees and greenery in building healthy, resilient and happy cities”.
• While Mumbai has made the list for the first time, Hyderabad has featured on it for the second consecutive year.

Tree Cities of the World Programme

• The ‘Tree Cities of the World’ is a programme started by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation and American non-profit organisation Arbor Day Foundation.

• It is an international effort “to recognise cities and towns committed to ensuring that their urban forests and trees are properly maintained, sustainably managed, and duly celebrated”.
  • The programme provides direction, assistance, and worldwide recognition for a community’s dedication to its urban forest.
  • The programme provides a framework for a healthy, sustainable urban forestry programme in a town or city.

How can a city be recognised as a Tree City?

• A city is recognised as a ‘Tree City’ if it meets five core standards to show its commitment towards caring for its trees and forests.
  1. Establish Responsibility,
  2. Set the Rules,
  3. Know What You Have,
  4. Allocate the Resources, and
  5. Celebrate the Achievements.
• To be recognised as a Tree City, a city must have a written statement delegating responsibility for the care of trees within the municipal boundary to a staff member, a city department, or a group of citizens – called a Tree Board.
• The city should have in place a law or an official policy to govern the management of forests and trees.
• The third core standard is to have an updated inventory or assessment of the local tree resource so that an effective long-term plan for planting, care, and removal of city trees can be established.
• The city should have a dedicated annual budget for the implementation of the tree management plan.
• To be recognised as a Tree City, it should organise an annual celebration of trees to raise awareness among people and to acknowledge citizens who carried out the tree programme.

Why have Hyderabad and Mumbai been recognised as Tree Cities?

• A total of 138 cities have been recognised for the year 2021 under the programme. While Hyderabad planted more than 3.5 crore trees, Mumbai planted 42,5000 trees.
• The 138 cities planted 38,787,795 in 486,015 volunteer hours. The countries with maximum tree cities include the US, UK, and Canada, with 37, 19, and 18 cities respectively.

Hyderabad’s Haritha Haram programme

• Haritha Haram is a flagship programme of the Telangana government to increase the green cover of the State from the present 25.16 to 33% of the total geographical area.
• The objective is sought to be achieved by a multi-pronged approach of rejuvenating degraded forests, ensuring more effective protection of forests against smuggling, encroachment, fire, grazing and intensive soil and moisture conservation measures following the watershed approach.

About Arbor Day Foundation

• This is a nonprofit conservation and educational institution. It was founded in 1972 in the USA.
• This largest nonprofit institution dedicated to tree planting helps spread awareness of how the tree could be a solution to numerous issues we face today globally. Namely, air quality, water pollution, climate change, hunger, and urbanization.

About UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

• It is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
• Their goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives.
• It is one of the United Nations food aid organizations situated in Rome (Italy). The World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development are its sister organizations.
• It maintains regional and field offices around the world, operating in over 130 countries.
• It also conducts research, provides technical assistance to projects, operates educational and training programs, and collects data on agricultural output, production, and development.
• FAO created the International Plant Protection Convention or IPPC in 1952.
• FAO is depositary of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, also called Plant Treaty, Seed Treaty or ITPGRFA, entered into force on 29 June 2004.
• The Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Partnership Initiative was conceptualized in 2002 during World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Question:
In which year Forest Conservation Act was passed?

1. 1986
2. 1980
3. 1988
4. 1985

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