Blue Nature Alliance

• Vaid's ICS, Lucknow
• 03, Mar 2022

Why in News?

Blue Nature Alliance has been launched with a goal to restore 7 million square miles of ocean in five years.

About Blue Nature Alliance:

• Blue Nature Allianceis a global partnership. It was founded and led by Conservation International, Pew Charitable Trusts, Global Environment Facility(GEF), Minderoo Foundation and Rob & Melani Walton Foundation.
• Aim: To safeguard global ocean biodiversity, build resilience to climate change, promote human well-being and enhance ecosystem connectivity.

Targets: The alliance has a target to:

• Conserve 18 million square kilometres of ocean in five years.
• Protect 5% of the world’s ocean in five years.
• Help the world achieve 30% ocean conservation by 2030.

• Target Oceans: The Alliance has started by targeting seven ocean locations. This includes Antarctica, Fiji, Canada, Seychelles, Palau, the Western Indian Ocean and Tristan da Cunha, an island in the South Atlantic Ocean.
• The alliance will begin work by working with local communities and national leaders. It aims to establish new marine protected areas (MPAs) and improve the management of existing ones.

About Conservation International(CI):

• Conservation International(CI) is an American nonprofit environmental organization. It was founded in 1987.
• Objective: Its mission is to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity. Such as food, freshwater, livelihoods and a stable climate,etc.
• Headquarters: Virginia, USA.

Facts for Prelims :

Indian Vessels Bill, 2021:

About

• Indian Vessels Bill will replace the Inland Vessels Act, 1917. The bill aims to regulate the safety, security and registration of inland vessels.

Key Features of the Indian Vessels Bill, 2021:

Unified Law:

• The Bill provides for a unified law for the entire country, instead of separate rules framed by the States.
• This means that the certificate of registration granted under the proposed law will be deemed to be valid in all States and Union Territories.
• Moreover, there will also beno need to seek separate permissions from the States.

Central Database of Vessels:

• The Bill provides for a central database for recording the details of the vessel, vessel registration, crew on an electronic portal.

Mandatory registration of Vessels:

• The bill requires all mechanically propelled vessels to be mandatorily registered.
• On the other hand, all non-mechanically propelled vessels will also have to be enrolled at the district, taluk or panchayat or village level.

About Inland Waterways:

• India has about 14,500 km of navigable waterways which comprises rivers, canals, backwaters, creeks among others.
• About 55 million tonnes of cargo are being moved annually by Inland Water Transport (IWT), in a fuel-efficient and environment-friendly mode.