From an issue that did not receive much attention compared with high-profile causes like conserving the tiger, wetlands today are more in focus, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing in the Union budget last week that there would be a special scheme, Amrit Dharohar, dedicated to promoting its conservation. In her speech, Sitharaman also referred to PM Narendra Modi recently mentioning in his radio address Mann ki Baat that India had increased the number of Ramsar sites — a designation that marks a wetland of international importance — to a record 75 last year.
“People are increasingly realising the importance of wetlands as a habitat that is critical to our existence not just because it offers water but, more importantly, as a buffer against natural disasters. That’s why there’s been a dedicated focus on wetlands over the last couple of years, both at the central and state levels,” says Vencatesan. And having 75 Ramsar sites, she adds, “is a phenomenal achievement by any standard”.
Wetlands are ecosystems formed where land meets water and thus includes a large number of bodies, from rivers and lakes to mangroves, paddy fields and marshes. These ecosystems also perform a variety of functions from providing food, fodder and ground water to supporting a multitude of flora and fauna. “Most importantly, wetlands act as the kidneys of the landscape. Wherever wet lands are in good shape, remediation (reversing environmental damage) happens. And carbon sequestration (storage) is also very high in these ecosystems,” says TV Ramachandra, faculty at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science (IISc). As Vencatesan mentions, wetlands also play a role in mitigating damage from floods because of which these are also referred to as “natural sponges”.
Despite the beneficial roles it plays, wetlands, like other ecosystems, are under considerable threat, mostly, as Ramachandra says, “from two-legged animals”. Wetlands in urban areas, in particular, are at risk of encroachment, pollution and sewage, apart from threats from invasive species such as water hyacinth and tilapia. In the last five decades, India has lost about a third of its wetlands, according to the 2017 report “Natural Capital of Wetlands”, by Wetlands International.
The state of Bengaluru’s wetlands alone is damning. Studies by Ramachandra and other researchers at IISc found that the city has lost close to 80% of wetlands while those that remain are battered by pollution and encroachments. “In 1800, we had 1,452 water bodies in Bengaluru. Today, there are 193 wetlands and about 98% have been encroached upon while 92% receive untreated sewage and effluents,” says Ramachandra.
Globally, the importance of wetlands was recognised as far back as the 1970s, when the Convention on Wetlands, an international treaty to protect the ecosystem, was signed in Ramsar in Iran in 1971, and came into effect in 1975. It was agreed that every country that was a party to the convention would designate wetlands that met one of nine specific criteria to be included on a list of “wetlands of international importance”, which came to be known as Ramsar sites. Governments would then be obligated to retain the character of these wetlands and ensure their conservation, failing which these sites could be placed on a negative list called the Montreux Record. India became a signatory in 1982.
“The tag of a Ramsar site carries a commitment — once sites are so designated, there is a promise to the international community that the wetland will be used wisely, that its ecological character will be maintained. Most importantly, a Ramsar site is covered under the provisions of the Wetland Conservation and Management Rules, 2017, wherein a range of activities such as direct discharge of sewage or construction within 50 m of shoreline are prohibited,” says Ritesh Kumar, director, Wetlands International South Asia. Due to this, there can also be pushback to the tag from vested interests like real estate lobbies. Ramachandra says a local politician began spreading the rumour that the mangroves in the Aghanashini estuary in Karnataka, which the ecologist hopes will soon get the Ramsar tag, were causing floods. “When our team went there, we saw that he had encroached on the wetlands and had started the rumour to cover this up.”
Kumar estimates that India has over 200 wetlands that meet one or more of the criteria required to become a Ramsar site. Yet, the number was increasing only gradually.
This changed in the last few years, with the Centre and some state governments taking the initiative, resulting in India’s tally of Ramsar sites surging to 75 in 2022. Leading the charge was Tamil Nadu, which has the most number of sites, at 14. Deepak Srivastava, member secretary, Tamil Nadu State Wetland Authority, says the push began with the state announcing a wetlands mission in August 2021, with `115 crore allocated for ecological restoration of 100 wetlands over five years. “We undertook meticulous planning, starting from the district level. It was a humongous task stretching over 8-9 months but we managed to add 13 sites in a single year,” he says, adding, “The declaration of a wetland as a Ramsar site is not the end product but the start of a restoration process.” It’s a view echoed by others.
“The fact that India has 75 sites is a momentous decision. Now the challenge is to put in place a system,” says Kumar. “That’s where I look at the budget announcement with a great deal of hope — it will provide the necessary wherewithal to address systemic challenges such as infusing capital into site management, getting better monitoring in place and involving citizens in management.”
The budget did not go into details about what the new scheme would involve, apart from the fact that it would be implemented over three years and would encourage optimal use of wetlands and enhance biodiversity and ecotourism opportunities, among others. (Emailed queries to the ministry of environment were unanswered.) But those involved in wetland conservation are optimistic even as they emphasise that there is little time to be lost. “I’m thrilled that there was a focus on wetlands in the budget, and by the Ramsar designation of sites, but this is the beginning. Wetlands take very little time to lose their character so they don’t really have the privilege terrestrial forests have,” says Vencatesan, adding “With great achievement comes great responsibility.”
