Wetlands as a national public good, Pg8

Key Highlights:

• World Wetlands Day 2026 was observed on February 2nd with the theme ‘Wetlands and traditional knowledge: Celebrating cultural heritage’.
• Approximately 40% of India's wetlands have disappeared in the last three decades, with about 50% of the remaining wetlands showing ecological degradation.
• The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 provide a framework for wetland management, but implementation is inconsistent.
• India has 98 Ramsar sites, representing a commitment to protect these wetlands.

Detailed Insights:

• Traditional practices, such as the kulams in Tamil Nadu and kenis in Kerala, demonstrate how communities have historically sustained themselves through wetlands.
• Wetlands face threats from encroachment, land conversion for infrastructure, disruption of water flows due to dams and sand mining, and pollution from sewage and industrial effluents.
• The National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems (NPCA) promotes structured planning and monitoring, while the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) framework aims to protect coastal wetlands.
• Effective wetland management requires notification and demarcation of boundaries, wastewater treatment, protection of hydrological connectivity, and recognition of wetlands as crucial for disaster risk reduction.
• A national capacity mission for wetland managers is needed, focusing on skills in hydrology, restoration ecology, GIS, environmental law, and community-led governance.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Eutrophication: Excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to runoff from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen.
• Ramsar Sites: Wetlands of international importance designated under the Ramsar Convention.
• Adaptive Management: A systematic approach for continually improving management policies and practices by learning from the outcomes of previously employed operational strategies.