Wetlands ecosystem : significance, threat and conservation

Wetland Ecosystem

Define and classify wetlands?
Geographical distribution in India
Significance
Threats factors
Conservation and restoration

Facts:-
--

  International wetland day is 2nd Feb.
--Celebrated since 1997 since Ramsar convection on 2nd Feb 1971 was signed and came into effect.
--Ramsar convention is not a part of UN but an international treaty.
--Ramsar is a lake in Iran.
-- it is also known as waterfowl habitat.

-- wetlands are partially or completely submerged areas where water level is high.  It may be natural or manmade , coastal, inland, esturines, lacustraine, saline or freshwater waterlands, etc. It includes paddy fields, bogs,rivers, marshy, swamps, mangroves, muddy deltas,estuaries,creeks, saltpans, dams/reservoirs/barrages, lagoons/backwaters/brackish lakes.

Geographical distribution of wetlands.

India has diverse topography and climatic conditions producing different types of wetlands. India has 4.7% of total geographical area under wetland ecosystem in India. The 70% of wetland is in paddy fields, inland wetlands>> coastal wetlands, India has total 15.2million hectares under wetlands.
According to latest National wetland inventory and assessment project by MOEF&CC and GIS survey by ISRO space application centre Ahmadabad.

Total area under wetland in the country is estimated as 15.260 MHa by NWIA (National Wetland Inventory and Assessment), 2011 which accounts for 4.63% of the geographical area. State-wise distribution of wetlands showed that Lakshadweep has 96.12% of geographic area under wetlands followed by Andaman and Nicobar Islands (18.52%), Daman and Diu(18.46%) and Gujarat (17.56%), have the highest extent of wetlands. Puducherry (12.88%), West Bengal (12.48%), Assam (9.74%), Tamil Nadu (6.92%), Goa (5.76%), Andhra Pradesh (5.26%), and Uttar Pradesh (5.16%) are wetland rich states. The least extents(less than 1.5 % of the state geographic area) have been observed in Mizoram (0.66%) followed by Haryana (0.86%), Delhi (0.93%), Sikkim (1.05%), Nagaland (1.30%), and Meghalaya (1.34%).

Inland – Natural Wetlands: Tamil Nadu has highest number of lakes (4369) followed by Uttar Pradesh (3684) and West Bengal (1327). Ox-bow lakes/Cut-off meanders are observed in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and Orissa. Large number of riverine wetlands exists in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and Jammu & Kashmir.

Inland – Man-made Wetlands: Andhra Pradesh has highest number of reservoirs (4527) followed by Madhya Pradesh (2005), Uttar Pradesh (1608), Orissa (1379) and Gujarat (1213). Details are summarised below. Large number of Tanks/ponds exists in Tamil nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka.

Small wetlands ( less than 2.25 ha) : There are 555557 such wetlands exists in the country. West Bengal has highest number of small wetlands (138707), followed by Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. 

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’s 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. About 80% of the mangroves are distributed in the Sunderbans of West Bengal and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with the rest in the coastal states of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Wetlands in southern peninsular India are mostly manmade and are known as yeris (tanks). They are constructed in every village and provide water for various human needs, besides serving as nesting, feeding and breeding sites for a large variety of bird species. Point Calimere in Tamilnadu; Ashtamudi, Sasthamkotta and Vembanad Kol lakes in Kerala; and Kolleru lake in Andhra Pradesh are some of the natural wetland sites in South India.

Wetlands significance

--- wetlands are significant due to it's all 4 ecosystem service providing function such as provisional services, regulatory services, Habitat services and cultural services..
--- wetlands are transition zone between land and marine environment used for water conservation, purification of water resources, remove contaminants, habitat for plants and animals, fisheries, timber, medicines, sustainability of local community, agricultural productions and food security, Birds breeding grounds, prevent coastal erosion and soil erosion, etc.,

— wetland services includes:
1) water storage by serving as natural rainwater harvesting sites for example in cities of Mumbai entire water is supplied from wetlands like modak sagar, Tania lake, Vihar lake,tulsi lake, vaitarana and Bhatsa.
2) Bioshield for shoreline stabilisation , coastal hazards like tsunami and cyclones and erosion control by mangroves,lagoons,backwaters,etc.
3) Ground water recharge by wetlands as water percolates into aquifers for example Udaipur has around 2500 lakes solved the region’s water problem.
4) wetlands protect against storms and tool for flood mitigation
5) water purification since , every water body has a self cleaning system by removing cold bacteria, accumulating heavy metals of arsenic,cadmium.
6) wetlands act as a buffer zone to retain sediment and mineral nutrients. Soil and nutrition conservation.
7) wetlands used for stabilisation  of local climatic condition such as temperatures, moisture,cloud cover, carbon sequestration, carbon sinks, humidity,
8) biodiversity hotspots, since wetlands are more productive ecosystem, habitat for plants and animals. There are many wildlife sanctuaries like Keoladeo, sariska wildlife sanctuary in Rajasthan, point Calimere wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nadu, Harike Pathan in Punjab. Bird sanctuaries

Wetland Threats
--- wetlands are being destroyed, encroached, polluted, fragmented, recharging blocked, deforested, landuse changes, silted, etc.,  leads to reduction of wetland services, water quality and quantity declines, migratory birds habitat loss, biodiversity loss, fish depletion, vulnerability of local community increased, waterbodies destroyed, developmental and settlement projects are harming the ecosystem, urbanisation, anthropogenic activities, agricultural activities, hydrological activities, deforestation, pollution, salination, aquaculture activities, introduction of foreign species, climatic changes, etc

Wetland conservation strategy


--- wetland conservation and protection under Ramsar convention of 1971 an international treaty came into force in India on 1 Feb 1982 .,
---montreaux record access the status of wetlands of IUCN threatened list,
---Ramsar sites declared countrywise and trans-boundary wetland conservation , waterfowl (bird) habitat conservation projects, in India 27 Ramsar sites are covering around 1112131 hectares.
---since 1986 India lauched national wetland conservation programme (NWCP) which cover more than 115 wetlands across India.
--- wetland conservation rules 2010 and it's amendment in 2017(new rules).
--- Integrated wetland conservation policy is required for regulations and usages for ecology,forestry ,agriculture, food security, water and soil conservation, preventing pollution and encroachment of wetlands, etc.
 Current site added
Ramsar sites in India are 42 today. Last site added was on dec 2020 are 5.

India has designated Sundarban Wetland as a Wetland of International Importance, its 37. The Site (Ramsar Site no. 2370) is located within the largest mangrove forest in the world, the Sundarbans, that encompasses hundreds of islands and a maze of rivers, rivulets and creeks, in the delta of the Rivers Ganges and Brahmaputra on the Bay of Bengal in India and Bangladesh.

The Indian Sundarban, covering the south-westernmost part of the delta, constitutes over 60% of the country’s total mangrove forest area and includes 90% of Indian mangrove species.

News Ramsar Wetlands


@  Ramsar has declared 10 more wetland sites from India as sites of international importance.
@   With this, the numbers of Ramsar sites in India are now 37 and the surface area covered by these sites is now 1,067,939 hectares.
1.Maharashtra gets its first Ramsar site (Nandur Madhameshwar) ,
2.Punjab which already had 3 Ramsar sites adds 3 more (Keshopur-Miani, Beas Conservation Reserve, Nangal) and
3.UP with 1 Ramsar site has added 6 more (Nawabganj, Parvati Agra, Saman, Samaspur, Sandi and Sarsai Nawar).

list of ramsar sites in India :

in 2020  5 new sites were added in Rmasar sites :

1) ASAN CONSERVATION RESERVE --UTTARAKHAND

2) KABARTAL WETLAND ---BIHAR

3) LONAR LAKE --MAHARASTHRA

4) SUR SAROVAR ---UP

5) TSO-KAR WETLAND COMPLEX ---LADAKH (LAST ADDED)

Sl. No.	Name of Site	State Location	Date of Declaration	Area  (in Sq. km.)
1	Asan Conservation Reserve	Uttarakhand	21.7.2020	4.444
2	Asthamudi Wetland	Kerala	19.8.2002	614
3	Beas Conservation Reserve	Punjab	26.9.2019	64.289
4	Bhitarkanika Mangroves	Orissa	19.8.2002	650
5	Bhoj Wetlands	Madhya Pradesh	19.8.2002	32.01
6	Chandertal Wetland	Himachal Pradesh	8.11.2005	0.49
7	Chilka Lake	Orissa	1.10.1981	1165
8	Deepor Beel	Assam	19.8.2002	40
9	East Kolkata Wetlands	West Bengal	19.8.2002	125
10	Harike Lake	Punjab	23.3.1990	41
11	Hokera Wetland	Jammu and Kashmir	8.11.2005	13.75
12	Kabartal Wetland	Bihar	21.07.2020	26.20
13	Kanjli Lake	Punjab	22.1.2002	1.83
14	Keoladeo Ghana NP	Rajasthan	1.10.1981	28.73
15	Keshopur-Miani Community Reserve	Punjab	26.9.2019	3.439
16	Kolleru Lake	Andhra Pradesh	19.8.2002	901
17	Loktak Lake	Manipur	23.3.1990	266
18	Lonar Lake	Maharashtra	22.7.2020	4.27
19	Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary	Gujarat	24.09.2012	120
20	Nandur Madhameshwar	Maharashtra	21.6.2019	14.37
21	Nangal Wildlife Sanctuary	Punjab	26.9.2019	1.16
22	Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary	Uttar Pradesh	19.9.2019	2.246
23	Parvati Agra Bird Sanctuary	Uttar Pradesh	2.12.2019	7.22
24	Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary	Tamil Nadu	19.8.2002	385
25	Pong Dam Lake	Himachal Pradesh	19.8.2002	156.62
26	Renuka Wetland	Himachal Pradesh	8.11.2005	0.2
27	Ropar Lake	Punjab	22.1.2002	13.65
28	Rudrasagar Lake	Tripura	8.11.2005	2.4
29	Saman Bird Sanctuary	Uttar Pradesh	2.12.2019	52.63
30	Samaspur Bird Sanctuary	Uttar Pradesh	3.10.2019	79.94
31	Sambhar Lake	Rajasthan	23.3.1990	240
32	Sandi Bird Sanctuary	Uttar Pradesh	26.9.2019	30.85
33	Sarsai Nawar Jheel	Uttar Pradesh	19.9.2019	16.13
34	Sasthamkotta Lake	Kerala	19.8.2002	3.73
35	Sunderbans Wetland	West Bengal	30.1.2019	4230
36	Surinsar-Mansar Lakes	Jammu and Kashmir	8.11.2005	3.5
37	Sur Sarovar	Uttar Pradesh	21.8.2020	4.31
38	Tso Kar Wetland Complex	Ladakh	17.11.2020	95.77
39	Tsomoriri Lake	Jammu and Kashmir	19.8.2002	120
40	Upper Ganga River (Brijghat to Narora Stretch)	Uttar Pradesh	8.11.2005	265.9
41	Vembanad Kol Wetland	Kerala	19.8.2002	1512.5
42	Wular Lake	Jammu & Kashmir	23.3.1990	189

 

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Q. Define wetland, classify,characteristic ,significance, deterioration factors, Ramsar convention, Ramsar sites in India(42), conservation strategy, success story of restoration of ecosystem. National wetland conservation programme (1986). Montreaux record , bird  sanctuaries of India.