UN recognises Ganges project among 10 initiatives restoring natural world

Restoring the health of the Ganges is the focus of a major push to cut pollution, rebuild forest cover and bring a wide range of benefits to the 520 million people living around its vast basin

An ambitious project that aims to improve the health of the Ganges, India’s holy river, is among 10 "ground-breaking" efforts recognised from around the globe by the United Nations for their role in restoring the natural world.

According to a report unveiled during the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) here on Tuesday, climate change, population growth, industrialisation and irrigation have degraded the Ganges along its arcing 2,525-kilometre course from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal.

Restoring the health of the Ganges is the focus of a major push to cut pollution, rebuild forest cover and bring a wide range of benefits to the 520 million people living around its vast basin.

The initiatives were declared World Restoration Flagships and are eligible to receive UN-backed promotion, advice or funding.

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They were selected under the banner of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a global movement coordinated by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

It is designed to prevent and reverse the degradation of natural spaces across the planet, the UN said.