Super Typhoon Ragasa (Nando) and the Philippines

Introduction

  • A Category 5 Super Typhoon with sustained winds of 205 km/h and gusts up to 250 km/h
  • Locally called “Nando”, among the strongest typhoons to hit the region in recent years

Why in news?

  • Moving across the Luzon Strait, expected to impact the Babuyan Islands before heading toward southern China

Background

  • Formed over the western Pacific Ocean, where warm waters and low wind shear created ideal conditions for intensification

Facts/General knowledge

  • The Philippines is an archipelago in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean, with 7,000+ islands, about 800 km east of Vietnam, and part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire”
  • Capital: Manila (political centre)
  • Neighbours (all separated by sea channels/straits): North: Taiwan – across the Luzon Strait
  • West: Vietnam – across the South China Sea
  • South: Malaysia (Sabah, Borneo) and Indonesia – across the Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea
  • Key features: Three main island groups: Luzon (north), Visayas (central), Mindanao (south)
  • Mountains and volcanoes: includes active volcanoes like Mayon and Taal; prone to earthquakes and eruptions
  • Culture: mix of Asian and Western influences; one of only two Roman Catholicmajority nations in Asia

Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve and the World Network of Biosphere Reserves

Introduction

The Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve (CDBR) in Himachal Pradesh has been included in UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR), along with 25 other reserves across several countries

  • São Tomé and Príncipe becomes the first state to have its entire territory designated as a biosphere reserve

Why in news?

  • CDBR’s addition to the WNBR marks international recognition under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme

Background

  • Location: TransHimalayan region; covers the entire Spiti Wildlife Division and adjoining areas of the Lahaul Forest Division, including Baralacha Pass, Bharatpur, and Sarchu (altitudes 3,300–6,600 m)
  • Declared a biosphere reserve in 2009 as India’s 16th and first highaltitude cold desert biosphere reserve
  • Landscape: integrates Pin Valley National Park, Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary, and Chandratal Wetland; windswept plateaus, glacial valleys, alpine lakes, and highaltitude desert; among the coldest and driest ecosystems in the WNBR
  • Floral diversity: 14 endemic, 68 native, and 62 threatened plant species, including medicinal plants such as Salix spp. and Betula utilis; supports hardy alpine grasses, medicinal herbs, and rare stands of Willowleaved seabuckthorn, Himalayan birch, and Persian juniper
  • Faunal diversity: habitat for rare and endangered species including snow leopard, Himalayan wolf, Tibetan antelope, Himalayan brown bear, Himalayan griffon, Himalayan ibex, bearded vulture, red fox, and Tibetan gazelle
  • WNBR: About: a dynamic, interactive network of sites of excellence
  • Objective: promotes NorthSouth, SouthSouth, and SouthNorthSouth collaboration through exchange of experiences and knowhow, capacitybuilding, and best practices
  • UNESCO affiliation: operates under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme
  • Global coverage: 785 sites in 142 countries; an additional one million sq km of natural areas brought under protection since 2018 — equivalent to the size of Bolivia

Significance

  • CDBR’s inclusion highlights its unique highaltitude cold desert ecosystem and its conservation value within the WNBR
  • The WNBR framework supports collaboration, capacitybuilding, and the promotion of best practices across biosphere reserves

Facts/General knowledge

  • Biosphere Reserve: About: an international UNESCO designation for significant natural and cultural landscapes across terrestrial, coastal, or marine ecosystems; an in situ conservation method balancing economic and social development with cultural and natural preservation
  • Functions: Conservation: protects biodiversity and cultural diversity
  • Economic development: promotes socioculturally and environmentally sustainable growth
  • Logistic support: facilitates research, monitoring, education, and training
  • Structure: Core areas: strictly protected for conservation (e.g., National Park or Wildlife Sanctuary)
  • Buffer zones: surround the core for ecofriendly activities supporting research, monitoring, training, and education
  • Transition area: for socioculturally and ecologically sustainable economic and human activities
  • Criteria for designation: a protected, minimally disturbed core of conservation value; sufficiently large to sustain viable populations across trophic levels; represents a biogeographical unit; involves local communities and supports preservation of traditional tribal or rural lifestyles
  • Biosphere Reserves in India: Overview: scheme launched in 1986 under the guidance of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme
  • Financial assistance: 90:10 ratio for North Eastern Region States and three Himalayan states; 60:40 ratio for other states
  • Management: State Government prepares the Management Action Plan; approved and monitored by the Central MAB Committee
  • Numbers: 18 biosphere reserves in India, of which 13 are listed in UNESCO’s WNBR