Protection of Wetlands
Wetlands are complex ecosystems and encompass
a wide range of inland, coastal and marine habitats. They share the
characteristics of both wet and dry environments and show immense diversity
based on their genesis, geographical location, hydrological regimes and
substrate factors. They include flood plains, swamps, marshes, fishponds, tidal
marshes natural and man-made wetlands. Among the most productive life support,
wetlands have immense socio-economic and ecological importance for mankind.
They are crucial to the survival of natural biodiversity. They provide suitable
habitats for endangered and rare species of birds and animals, endemic plants,
insects besides sustaining migratory birds. India has a wealth of wetland
ecosystems distributed in different geographical regions. Most of the wetlands
in India are directly or indirectly linked with major river systems such as the
Ganges, Cauvery, Krishna, Godavari and Tapti. India has totally 27, 403
wetlands, of which 23,444 are inland wetlands and 3,959 are coastal wetlands.
According to the Directory of Asian Wetlands (1989), wetlands occupy 18.4% of
the country area (excluding rivers), of which 70 % are under paddy cultivation.
In India, out of an estimated 4.1 mha (excluding irrigated agricultural lands,
rivers, and streams) of wetlands, 1.5 mha are natural, while 2.6 mha are
manmade. The coastal wetlands occupy an estimated 6,750 sq km, and are largely
dominated by mangrove vegetation.
Ramsar Convention on
Wetlands
India is also a signatory to the Ramsar Convention
on Wetlands and the Convention of Biological Diversity. The Convention on
Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which
provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for
the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. There are
presently 158 Contracting Parties to the Convention, with 1758 wetland sites,
totaling 161 million hectares, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of
Wetlands of International Importance. Ramsar Convention is the only global
environment treaty dealing with a particular ecosystem. The Ramsar Convention
on Wetlands was developed as a means to call international attention to the
rate at which wetland habitats were disappearing, due to lack of understanding
of their important functions, values, goods and services. Governments which
have joined the Convention are expressing their willingness to make a
commitment for helping to reverse that history of wetland loss and degradation.
In addition, many wetlands are international systems lying across the
boundaries of two or more countries, or are part of river basins that include
more than one country. The health of these and other wetlands is dependent upon
the quality and quantity of the transboundary water supply from rivers,
streams, lakes, or underground aquifers. This requires framework for
international discussion and cooperation toward mutual benefits.
The salient features of Ramsar Convention includes recommendations
for monitoring of biodiversity and anthropogenic impact; improvement of the
legislation for protection of the wetlands; elaboration of economic mechanisms
for the biodiversity protection while in nature management; organisation of new
protected areas (Ramsar sites) in Kamchatka region; organisation of work with
local population and search for sources of funding.
Conservation
of Natural Resources
Nature
has provided bountiful resources surrounding us for sustenance of a better
life. Thus, any part of our natural environment such as land, water, air,
minerals, forest, grassland, wildlife, fish or even human population that man
can utilize to promote his welfare, may be considered as Natural Resources.
These resources, along with human resources and capital, play a crucial role
for expansion to national output which ultimately drives towards economic
development. Hence for sustainable development, careful use of the exhaustible
resources and maintenance of the quality of renewable resources are needed. For
that, certain objectives should be followed. Ecological balance has been defined as "a state of dynamic
equilibrium within a community of organisms in which genetic, species and
ecosystem diversity remain relatively stable, subject to gradual changes
through natural succession." and "a stable balance in the numbers of
each species in an ecosystem." The most important point being that the
natural balance in an ecosystem is maintained. This balance may be disturbed
due to the introduction of new species, the sudden death of some species,
natural hazards or man-made causes.
Common
property resources (CPRs) constitute all such resources which are meant
for common use of the villagers. In the pre-British India, a very large part of
the country’s natural resources was freely available to the rural population.
These resources were largely under the control of the local communities.
Gradually, with the extension of state control over these resources, resulting
in decay of the community management system, CPRs available to the villagers
declined substantially over the years. Nevertheless, it is widely held that
CPRs still play an important role in the life and economy of the rural
population. The beginning of the studies of the CPRs in India can be traced
back to early 1980’s. Some of these studies covered fairly a large number of
villages scattered over the vast area of the country but majority of those was
of the nature of case studies. Biodiversity, or biological diversity, is a term
coined to describe the immense variety and richness of life on this planet.
Biodiversity includes not only the many species that exist, but also the
diversity of populations that make up a species, the genetic diversity among
individual life forms, and the many different habitats and ecosystems around
the globe. "Biodiversity is the variety of the world's organisms,
including their genetic diversity and the assemblage they form." Biodiversity"
is most commonly used as species
diversity and species richness and as the "totality of genes, species, and
ecosystems of a region". Biological variety has been identified
as species diversity, ecosystem
diversity and genetic diversity.
List
of Wetlands in India
The
wetlands in India are classified as Himalayan wetlands which
includes Ladakh and Zanskar Pangong Tso, Tso Morad, Chantau,
Noorichan, Chushul and Hanlay marshes, Kashmir Valley including Dal,
Anchar, Wular, Haigam, Malgam, Haukersar and Kranchu lakes, Central
Himalayas including Nainital, Bhimtal and Naukuchital and Eastern
Himalayas having numerous wetlands in Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh,
Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur, Beels in the Brahmaputra and Barak
valley. Indo-Gangetic wetlands are the largest wetland system in
India, extending from the river Indus in the west to Brahmaputra in the east.
This includes the wetlands of the Himalayan terai and the Indo-Gangetic
plains. Coastal wetlands contains the vast intertidal areas, mangroves and
lagoons along the 7500 km long coastline in West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra. and Gujarat. Mangrove
forests of Sunderbans, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Offshore
coral reefs of Gulf of Kutch, Gulf of Mannar, Lakshwadeep and Andaman and
Nicobar Islands. Deccan Wetland includes a few natural
wetlands, but innumerable small and large reservoirs and several water storage
tanks in almost every village in the region.
National
Wetland Policy
National
wetland strategy should encompass (i) Conservation and collaborative
management, (ii) Prevention of loss and promotion of restoration and (iii)
Sustainable management. These include Protection of the existing
wetlands. Of the many wetlands in India, only around 68 wetlands are protected.
But there are thousands of other wetlands that are biologically and
economically important but have no legal status. Planning, Managing and
Monitoring of Wetlands comes under the Protected Area Network have management
plans but others do not. It is important for various stakeholders along with
the local community and the corporate sector to come together for an effective
management plan. Active monitoring of these wetland systems over a period of
time is essential. Although several laws protect wetlands there is no
special legislation pertaining specially to these ecosystems. Environment
Impact Assessment is needed for major development projects and highlighting
threats to wetlands need must be included and appropriate measures to be
formulated. Coordinated Approach is required because Wetlands are common
property with multi-purpose utility; their protection and management also need
to be a common responsibility. An appropriate forum for resolving the conflict on
wetland issues has to be set up. It is important for all the relevant
ministries to allocate sufficient funds towards the conservation of these
ecosystems. There is a necessity for research in the formulation of a
national strategy to understand the dynamics of these ecosystems. This could be
useful for the planners to formulate strategies for the mitigation of
pollution. The scientific knowledge will help the planners in understanding the
economic values and benefits, which in turn will help in setting priorities and
focusing the planning process. Building Awareness is needed. Awareness
among the general public, educational and corporate institutions must be
created for achieving any sustainable success in the protection of these
wetlands. The policy makers at various levels, along with site managers, need
to be educated. The bi-lateral cooperation in the resource management needs to
be enhanced if country's wetlands are shared.
National Wetland
Conservation Programme (NWCP)
The Government opertionalized National Wetland
Conservation Programme (NWCP) in closed collaboration with concerned State
Government during the year 1986. Under the programme 115 wetlands have been
identified till now by the Ministry of Environment and Forests which requires
urgent conservation and management initiatives. The aim of this Scheme
is Conservation and wise use of wetlands in the country so as to prevent
their further degradation. The scheme was initiated to lay down policy
guidelines for conservation and management of wetlands in the country; to
undertake intensive conservation measures in priority wetlands; to monitor
implementation of the programme and to prepare an inventory of Indian wetlands.
Legislations
Wetlands
conservation in India is indirectly influenced by an array of policy and
legislative measures. Some of the key legislations are the Indian Fisheries
Act, 1857, the Indian Forest Act, 1927, Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, Water
(Prevention and Control of Pol1ution) Act, 1974, Territorial Water, Continental
Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and other, Marine Zones Act, 1976, Water
(Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1977, Maritime Zone of
India.(Regulation and fishing by foreign vessels) Act 1980, Forest
(Conservation Act), 1980, Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986, Coastal Zone
Regulation Notification, 1991, Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 1991, based
on UN Convention on Biological diversity 1992, Biological Diversity Act,
2002 was enacted. National Conservation Strategy and Policy Statement on
Environment and Development, 1992, National Policy and Macro level Action
Strategy on Biodiversity, 1999 are also formulated by Government.
Wetland Management and
Sustainable Development
Wetlands are not delineated under any specific
administrative jurisdiction. The primary responsibility for the management of
these ecosystems is in the hands of the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
Although some wetlands are protected after the formulation of the Wildlife
Protection Act, effective coordination between the different ministries,
energy, industry, fisheries, revenue, agriculture, transport and water
resources, is essential for the protection of these ecosystems. Environmental
management for sustainable utilization is the prime need of the hour.
Industrial development with respect to automobiles, chemicals, fertilizers,
insecticides, etc., are coming up very fast in India and due to various reasons
these are often held responsible for environmental damage. Lack of
environmentally educated society, inefficient management, weak law enforcement,
corporate greed to earn more profit with less investment can also lead to
chemical accidents and causing imbalance in sustainable development.
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