Global Environment Facility (GEF) Trust Fund
The Integrated Management of Wetlands, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services project is funded by the ‘Global Environment Facility (GEF) Trust Fund‘.
For a period of 5 years, Rs. 31.13 crore has been allocated for this scheme.
India’s 3 wetlands are included in this project:
- Sasthamkotta Lake in Kerala,
- Harike Lake in Punjab and
- Kabartal in Bihar.
Global Environment Facility (GEF) Trust Fund:
- It was established a day before the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.
- GEF funds are available to meet the objectives of international environmental conventions and agreements. This fund is targeted at developing countries and countries whose economies are going through transition.
- The World Bank acts as a trustee of the GEF Trust Fund and provides administrative services. Contributions are made by donors to the GEF Trust Fund.
What are wetlands?
- IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services), The definition of wetlands under the Ramsar Convention includes marshlands, floodplains, rivers and lakes, mangroves, coral reefs, and other marine areas not deeper than 6 m at low tide, as well as man-made wetlands such as waste-water. Treatment ponds and reservoirs are also included in this.
- IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services), a global assessment, has identified wetlands as the most threatened ecosystem.
- According to UNESCO, it affects 40% of the world’s flora and wildlife that inhabit or breed in wetlands.
- Thirty percent of land-based carbon is stored in peat lands. One billion people depend on wetlands for their livelihood, with wetlands contributing $47 trillion annually to essential services.
Source – The Hindu
