International
Context: Recent Places were seen in the news
Atacama Desert
Why In the News?
The construction of the dome for the world’s largest visible- and infrared-light telescope, the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT).
Location: It is a cool, arid region in northern Chile near the borders of Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina in South America, settled between the Andes Mountains on the east and the Pacific Ocean on the west
Features: It mainly features salt pans at the coastal mountains and alluvial fans sloping from the Andean foothills.
Climate and Region: It receives less than 5 mm of rain a year, making it the driest non-polar desert in the world.
Importance: It is the best place to spot the solar system’s secrets, with 330 cloud-free nights annually, hosting observatories that track celestial bodies.
Mt. Taranaki
Why in the News?
Taranaki Maunga, the second-highest mountain (8,261 feet) on New Zealand’s North Island, along with its surrounding peaks, has been granted legal personhood.
It is also known as Mount Egmont located in Egmont National Park, New Zeland.
Features
- It is a symmetrical stratovolcano, made of alternating layers of ash and lava.
- It was formed by the subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Australian Plate and features a ring plain from lahars and landslides.
- It is a dormant and snow-capped volcano.
New Zealand was the first country in the world to recognize natural features as people and granted personhood to Te Urewera.
National
Parvati Arga Bird Sanctuary
Why in the News?
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) hosted the World Wetlands Day 2025 celebrations at the Parvati Arga Ramsar Site.
About World Wetlands Day (WWD):
Theme of 2025: ‘Protecting Wetlands for our Common Future’
- India has been a party to the Convention since 1982.
About Parvati Arga Bird Sanctuary
Location: Tarabganj Tehsil, Gonda District Uttar Pradesh.
Habitat: Two oxbow lakes, a permanent freshwater wetland.
These are an oxbow lake (Parvati and Arga Lakes) is a crescent-shaped waterbody formed when a meander of the Saryu River is separated from the main flow, creating an isolated lake.
Biodiversity: critically endangered white-rumped vulture and Indian vulture; also, the endangered Egyptian vulture.
- It’s also a wintering ground for migratory birds from Central Asia.
Ecological Role: Essential for roosting, breeding, and groundwater recharge.
Threat: Invasive water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes).
Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary
Why in the news?
The Centre’s wildlife committee has greenlit a proposal to conduct oil and gas exploration in the eco-sensitive area of the Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary.
About
Location: Located in the Jorhat district of Assam, it is famous for its non-human primate diversity.
Vegetation: Evergreen and Semi-evergreen forest.
Flora: The upper canopy of the forest is dominated by Hollong tree (Dipterocarpus macrocarpus), while Nahar (Mesua ferrea) dominates middle canopy.
Fauna: India’s only gibbons hoolock gibbons, & Northeastern India’s only nocturnal primate -Bengal slow loris are found here.
- Stump-tailed Macaque, Pig-tailed Macaque, Capped Langur, Rhesus Macaques, along with other habitats.
- It is also recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.
River: The Bhogdoi River tributary of the Brahmaputra River passes along the border of the sanctuary.
Threats: Qualitative loss of habitats, fragmentation of habitats, poaching and unscientific plantation, etc.