While efforts are being made to reverse the damage caused by human activity globally, the challenges around habitat restoration continue to mount.
From the pollution of land by chemicals and the disappearance of lakes, to the destruction of forests, the desertification of once-fertile areas, the problems caused by previous human behaviour are becoming more visible.
Land degradation is one of this year's World Environment Day themes, an issue the UN Environment Programme says has afflicted one fifth of the planet’s land.
In 2021 the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration was launched, sparking pledges from nations to restore one billion hectares of land.
Take for instance China, they’ve been restoring a lot of forest areas in the last decade. If you look at the statistics, forests are coming back in that country
Prof Georg Winkel,
Wageningen University and Research
"The interest in ecosystem restoration is increasing," said Prof Gerald Jurasinski, professor of peatland science at the University of Greifswald in Germany.
"This is driven by the fact that the problems we get from what we did in the past become more visible.
"The activists but also the scientists that raised the alarm, they get heard … this together leads to increasing interest in ecosystem restoration.
"When global environmental or societal [organisations] like Unesco or Unep are producing the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, that’s something."
Up to 90 per cent restoration goals
The EU has had a particular focus on habitat restoration, with the European Parliament having adopted a law in February requiring its 27 member states to restore at least 30 per cent of degraded habitats by the end of the decade.
By 2040, 60 per cent must be restored and by 2050, 90 per cent.
More than 80 per cent of the continent’s habitats are considered to be in poor condition despite the EU's Life Programme supporting more than 6,000 habitat restoration projects since 1992.
This year, more than €500 million ($544 million) are being allocated through the scheme.
Peatlands
Among the natural environments that have benefited from funding are peatlands, which are waterlogged areas that contain large quantities of incompletely decomposed organic matter.
A study in Nature has reported that at least two billion tonnes of carbon dioxide – about five per cent of global carbon emissions – are released by damaged or drained peatlands each year, exacerbating climate change.
Protecting remaining peatlands and restoring those that have been degraded could reduce the amount of carbon released.
Aside from the impact on climate change, degrading natural environments such as peatlands or forests also contribute to a loss of biodiversity and cause species extinctions.
"Due to the shrinking habitat many species are endangered and many of them are especially adapted to specific conditions – very poor or wet or dry," Prof Jurasinski said.
"We make everything the same so these species are on the brink of extinction."
Forests
Forests are another key habitat to have experienced significant losses, with about 3.7 million hectares of primary forests in the tropics destroyed last year, according to World Resources Institute figures.
In some parts of the world, however, forest cover is increasing, although the environmental benefits are not always clear.
"Take for instance China, they’ve been restoring a lot of forest areas in the last decade," said Georg Winkel, professor of forest and nature conservation policy at Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands.
"If you look at the statistics, forests are coming back in that country."
Prof Winkel said in Europe there have been many forests planted since the mid 19th century and several European countries, which now have more forest cover than a century ago, although the plantations typically lack the diversity of natural forests.
"Later there was a policy shift 20, 30 years ago not to cut the old forests, and in the plantations to go for different management strategies so they become more rich," he said.
Renewable energy obstacles
Much of the destruction of natural habitats has been because of agriculture, with environments destroyed so crops can be grown.
As the world increases investments in renewable energy, new threats to natural environments are sometimes emerging, given that wind and solar energy generation require, according to the Brookings Institution, "at least 10 times as much land per unit of power produced than coal or natural gas-fired power plants".
While not a factor in the large-scale solar installations in the Gulf, there are concerns in North America that the removal of vegetation to allow for solar power farms has resulted in land erosion and threatened animal species.
Prof Tadhg O’Donovan, of Heriot Watt University Dubai, said renewable energy such as solar power could be used to prevent land degradation by providing sustainable energy for the desalination of water that can be used in irrigation.
"The unit cost of irrigated water or potable water is quite high, especially here in the Middle East, where a huge proportion is coming from desalination sources taken from the Gulf, maybe run through reverse osmosis and used for drinking or irrigation," Prof O'Donovan said.
"If that can be displaced by renewables instead of fossil fuels, you’re taking a huge amount of carbon intensity off the process."
Climate tipping points – in pictures
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
THREE
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Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20profile
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How to help
Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.
Account name: Dar Al Ber Society
Account Number: 11 530 734
IBAN: AE 9805 000 000 000 11 530 734
Bank Name: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
To ensure that your contribution reaches these people, please send the copy of deposit/transfer receipt to: juhi.khan@daralber.ae
The%20Roundup
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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THE SPECS
Aston Martin Rapide AMR
Engine: 6.0-litre V12
Transmission: Touchtronic III eight-speed automatic
Power: 595bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh999,563
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
LIKELY TEAMS
South Africa
Faf du Plessis (captain), Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock (wkt), Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Lungi Ngidi.
India (from)
Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wkt), Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
If you go
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
Company%20Profile
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How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
ELECTION%20RESULTS
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Record breaker
- The most total field goals made in NBA history, as well as the most consecutive games scoring 10 or more points
- The only player in NBA history to reach 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists
- Four-time regular season MVP and four-time NBA Finals MVP
- Six-time NBA All-Defensive selection. Rookie of the Year in 2004
- The most All-NBA selections with 21 in a row, including a record 13 first team selections
- The most consecutive All-Star selections with 21
- The only player to play alongside his son; Bronny James was chosen by the Lakers in the 2024 NBA draft
Asia Cup Qualifier
Final
UAE v Hong Kong
Live on OSN Cricket HD. Coverage starts at 5.30am
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
