There is clear water up to your ankles and dragonfly zips past your head as you watch some ducks fly off the water - welcome to the soggy world of the wetland

Source: www.welcomeorissa.com

WETLANDS…………………….

Lands where water saturation is the

dominant factor determining the nature of

soil development and the types of plant

and animal communities living in the

surrounding environment. Other common

names for wetlands are bogs, ponds,

estuaries, and marshes.

FOOD WEB IN A WETLANDECOSYSTEM

Source: www.cas.muohio.edu

Why are wetlands important ?

Wetlands prevent flooding by holding water much like a sponge. By doing so, wetlands help keep river levels normal and filter and purify the surface water. Wetlands accept water during storms and whenever water levels are high. When water levels are low, wetlands slowly release water.

A THREATENED ECOSYSTEM

The increased food production of the past fifty years has led to important losses of wetland ecosystems.

Agriculture now uses 70% of all global water withdrawals; wetlands are drained for cultivation, and threatened by agricultural pollution, through nitrogen, phosphorous, pesticides.

The construction of dams, supporting irrigation development, destroy floodplains, the riparian habitat and species breeding ground.

Another major threat to wetlands comes from new construction and infrastructure development. This threat is likely to increase.

Why do we need to map wetlands?

For the long-term conservation planning of wetlands, spatial data and information is required for any intervention. Wetland eco-system constitute an integral part of cultural and biodiversity landscape of India. It is estimated that 3.5 millions ha exists in the country according to the 1992-1993 study by the Space Application Centre. However, this information pertains to wetlands above 56ha in size. Past research on wetland conservation in the country has shown conclusively that micro wetlands or satellite wetlands around a bigger wetland act as a constellation of habitat mosaic for resident and migratory waterfowl. This is of special importance for inland wetland habitats in the flyways of migratory birds in the Indo-Gangetic plains and in Deccan peninsula. Often, the size of these micro wetlands is much smaller than 50ha Therefore, there is a great need to map wetlands of size smaller than 50ha. Spatial information on wetlands resources is a critical and an urgently needed for an effective conservation of these important eco-system.

The richness and usefulness of the wetlands

was first brought to the notice of the world

by a convention on wetlands held in

Ramsar, an Iranian city situated on the

shores of the Caspian Sea, in 1971.

Front cover of World

Wetland Day 2006 postcard

World Wetland Day 2 nd February.

Number of Ramsar sites in India is

25.

WETLAND CLASSIFICATION SCHEME

INLAND WETLANDS:

Reservoirs.

Tanks.

Abandoned quarries.

Ash pond/cooling pond.

Natural.

Lakes/Ponds.

Oxbow lakes.

Waterlogged (seasonal).

Swamp/marsh.

Playas.

Man made.

Coastal Wetland:

Natural

Estuary.

Lagoon.

Creek.

Bay.

Tidal flat.

Coral reef.

Mangrove.

Artificial

Salt pan.

Aquaculture.

Area Estimates of Wetlands of India

(in million ha)Area under paddy cultivation 40.9

Area suitable for fish culture 3.6

Area under capture fisheries. 2.9

Mangroves 0.4

Estuaries 3.9

Backwater 3.5

Man-made impoundments 3.0

Rivers. (28,000 km)

Canals and irrigation channels (113,000 km)

Types of wetlands. 58.2 (Source: Directory of Asian Wetlands, IUCN, 1995).

Indian Wetlands supporting endangered

fauna.

State Endemic

plants

Threatened

fishes

Threatened

turtlesWest Bengal 5 32 11Tamil Nadu 46 35 4Kerala 65 37 3Karnataka 64 15 2Orissa 6 22 6Andhra Pradesh 13 19 2Gujrat 11 12 1Rajasthan 9 17 3Haryana 0 15 1

Source: wetlandsofindia.org

Common

name

No. of birds No. of sites

(n=591)

No. of states

(n=25)

Baer’s pochard 378 7 4

Baikal teal 35 1 1

Blacknecked

crane* 5 3

Dalmatian

pellican11 20 4

Finn’s weaver 396 1 1

Bristled grass

warbler1 2 2

Source:wetlandsofindia.org

Socio-economic characteristics

of wetlands.

Community dependence on the

Chilika Lake.

Source: www.ias.ac.in

Chilika Lake region has 132 fishing villages with a total population of

more than 10 million.

About 30% (33,3 00) of the fishing village population are active

fishermen, although many others depend indirectly on the fisheries.

There is a large forest area both on the coastal side and around the

lake which quote successfully is being covered by casuarinas (near the

sea shore), eucalyptus and cashew under both a SIDA-supported and

the government's own social forestry programme. But the tribals and

the local communities entirely depend upon the forest to meet their

own fuel requirements and they also cut and sell it in the local market.

The area around the lake, not covered by human settlement and forest, is

under intense farming – mainly cashew in dry land and paddy cultivation in

wetland.

NATIONAL WETLAND STRATEGY

Should encompass

Protection: The primary necessity today is to

protect 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:

Wetlands that come 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.

Coordinated Approach:

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

Research:

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:

For achieving any sustainable success in the

protection of these wetlands, awareness

among the general public, educational and

corporate institutions must be created. The

policy makers at various levels, along with

site managers, need to be educated. Because

the country's wetlands are shared, the bi-

lateral cooperation in the resource

management needs to be enhanced.

REFERENCES

The environment by Chris Park.

Ecology and environment by B.P.Pandey.

WWF-India newsletter.Issue I -2006.

www.wetlandsofindia.org

www.edugreen.teri.edu

www.ramsar.org

www.chilika.com