“A holistic view of wetlands is necessary, which looks at each identified wetland in terms of its causal linkages with natural entities, human needs and its own attributes…”
-National Environment Policy (NEP), May 19, 2006.
Introduction
India’s beauty inheres in its physiography and spatial distribution of various landforms. A sun-drenched land lying entirely in Northern Hemisphere (8°4´ N-37°6´N and 68°7´E-97°25´E)[1], India is a home to plethora of plant and animal species. Albeit a single landmass, it shares varied climatic zones ranging from hostile Great Indian Desert in West to biophilic Tropical Rain Forests in North-East and from amiable aura of the Indian Peninsula to chilling climate of Leh. All these qualities endorsed Mark Twain to promulgate- ‘so far I am able to judge that nothing has been left undone by nature to make India most extraordinary country that the sun visits on her rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked´[2]. On this score, it is imperative to manage and conserve the vistas of natural bounty of the sub-continent. In India, management and conservation of environment has been a relic of major religions and their ideologies.
Wetland Defined
Wetlands are shallow water bodies in which water keeps up for most part of the year and recedes below the surface level during dry season. According to Ramsar Convention, ‘wetland represents an area of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, lentic or lotic, brackish or salty including area of marine water, the depth of which at low tides does not exceeds six metres[3]’. Demarcation of wetlands entails three attributes viz.Hydrology i.e. degree of flooding, Vegetation i.e. hydrophytes and Hydric soils [4].
Necessity of Wetland Management
Apart from maintaining conducive ecological balance, wetlands provide a great deal of tangible benefits. They act as winter resorts for birds, habitat for fish and other flora & fauna, deluge controller, waste water sinks, sediment load reducers, recharger of aquifers and recreational spots. An incisive rationale is a sine qua non for the strategy of wetland management. Under the auspices of 7th goal of Millennium Development Goals, an artefact of United Nations, international community is morally bound to manage and conserve wetlands and to usher future generations to a sustainable world.[5]
Moreover, the Constitution of India, largest living document of democratic world, promotes management of wetlands under the ambit of Article 51(A) (g) which eloquently mentions, ‘It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures.’[6]
Threats to Wetlands
Wetland degradation hinges upon various biotic and abiotic threats. Inter-alia, abiotic threats in particular are quite insidious and iniquitous. Human encroachment, hydrological intervention like industrial and domestic effluents, pesticides coupled with uncontrolled siltation, weed infestation are potent enough to scuttle wetland ecosystems that occupy 6% of world’s geographical area. [7] Therefore, we need to trade-off between unquenchable thirst of resource exploitation and wetland management and redress ecological balance.
Wetland Management: The Indian Perspective
Over the years, based on the recommendation of National Wetland Committee, 115 wetlands have been identified for management chores. Under the purview of Management Action Plan (2009-10), 27 wetlands have been approved and financial assistance of Rs.11.22 Crores has been released to get the task accomplished.[8]
India’s quest for wetland management emanates from Ramsar Convention-1971 to which India is a signatory. India’s strategy for wetland management is multi-pronged and involves Legal Framework, Policy Support, Inventorisation tools, Capacity Building and Community Participation.[9]
Prior to pouring the myriad of spondulicks, one needs an indispensable governing framework for any task. In India, no separate Act for wetland management has yet been identified, nonetheless, hallowed laws like Forest Act-1927, Forest (Conservation) Act-1980, the Wildlife (Protection) Act-1972, the Water Cess Act-1977 and Environment (Protection) Act-1986 act as savior of wetlands in India. Also, the Biodiversity Act- 2002 & the Biodiversity Rules-2004 are destined to safeguard the floral and faunal biodiversity thus making wetland management an interdisciplinary approach.
Under policy support, National Environment Policy-2006, a suigeneris in itself, soldiers on setting up a legally enforceable regulatory mechanism, formulating conservation and prudent use strategies and promoting ecotourism. It integrates wetland conservation including conservation of village ponds, tanks in to sectorial development plans for poverty alleviation and livelihood improvement.
Taking in to account the inventorisation tools, about 115 wetlands have been identified nation-wide. Inventorisation tools delve in to inventory formulation while taking in to consideration the identification of different human activities, effect of industrial and domestic effluents and information obtained by Remote Sensing and revenue records. More than 14 such large scale inventory surveys have been done hitherto. A project on ‘National Wetland Information System and Updation of Wetland Inventory’ has been sanctioned by Ministry of Environment and Forests with an objective to map and inventorise wetlands on 1:50,000 scale, to prepare state-wise wetland atlases, to create digital database in GIS environment.[10]
Capacity building is a major tool which is inextricable with wetland management. It acts as repository in burgeoning good infrastructure, training people and mobilizing case studies to teach values and functions of wetlands in integrated manner. As a part of capacity building, so far, about more than two dozen workshops have been organized in which ‘International Workshop on High Altitude Wetlands’ held at Sikkim proved to be a milestone.
Community participation plays a pivotal role to spin out any social, economic and political process. Akin to people’s participation in electoral process, community participation is inherent and bode well for wetland management. It involves assessment of resource availability by surveys, participatory rural appraisal of wetland sites, stakeholder analysis, contact with external institutions for resource and technical advice, utilization of wastes and aquatic weeds. In addition to this, Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs), Eco-Development Committees (EDCs) etc. play an active role in wetland management.
Conclusion
Wetland management in India requires an interdisciplinary approach. Community participation is even more crucial and instrumental for better disposal of government policies. It is imperative to follow sensitization programs based on religious, tribal, regional and lingual values. Youth’s participation in organizing awareness rallies, nukkad-natak etc. has been found beneficial every now and again. For wetland management, the world is our oyster provided that we perform tasks earnestly and cooperate government. Latter can formulate policies but to make fruitful is our duty.
Also, there’s a dire need for making a separate Act and a Governing Body devoted exclusively to expedite the management chores. Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) should be encouraged financially to deal with the nitty-gritty of the situations and act accordingly.
At the level of schools, colleges and universities, students should involve themselves in management programs. A substantial attention should be given at research level to realize the full potential of wetlands.
In a nut shell, it should be incorporated in the mind of each person that ‘Wetlands are not Waste Land’. Geographically, they act as hinterlands but should be subsumed unequivocally in the nation’s growth and prosperity.
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References:
[2] http://iloveindia.com/quotes-on-india/index.html
[3] Ramsar Convention on Wetland Management, Ramsar, Iran, February 02, 1971.
[4] Department of Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Authority, United States of America.
[5] http://un.org/millenniumgoals
[6]Basu, D.D., Introduction to the Constitution of India, 20th Edition, Lexis NexisButterworthsWadhwa, Nagpur.
[7] India 2011, Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, New Delhi.
[8]India 2011, Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, New Delhi.
[9] Conservation of Wetlands in India: A Profile, Conservation Division-I, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, New Delhi.
[10] Conservation of Wetlands in India: A Profile, Conservation Division-I, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, New Delhi.
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