Syllabus: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
Context and Traditional Knowledge
- World Wetlands Day 2026 theme highlighted “Wetlands and traditional knowledge: Celebrating cultural heritage.”
- Communities historically sustained livelihoods while safeguarding wetland ecosystems through indigenous water management practices.
- Tamil Nadu tanks or kulams formed cascading irrigation networks supporting paddy and community livelihoods.
- Kerala’s kenis in Wayanad provide drinking water, rituals, and cultural continuity.
- Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam wetlands sustain traditional fishing economies and social wellbeing.
Policy Framework and Status
- India has comprehensive laws but inconsistent, weak implementation across governance levels.
- Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 provide identification, notification, and activity restriction mechanisms.
- Nearly 40% of wetlands lost in three decades, while 50% show ecological degradation.
- National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems promotes structured planning, monitoring, and outcome-based management.
- Ramsar designation offers global recognition and conservation responsibility for India’s 98 sites.
Major Threats and Pressures
- Wetlands face encroachment, land conversion, infrastructure expansion, and real estate pressures.
- Hydrological disruptions from dams, embankments, sand mining, and groundwater over-extraction.
- Urban wetlands burdened with stormwater, sewage inflows, flood storage, and biodiversity expectations.
- Pollution causes eutrophication from sewage, industrial effluents, agricultural runoff, and solid waste dumping.
- Coastal wetlands face sea-level rise, cyclones, shoreline changes, and development conflicts.
Institutional and Capacity Challenges
- State wetland authorities remain understaffed, underfunded, and stretched across competing mandates.
- Skill gaps exist in hydrology, ecology, GIS, legal enforcement, and community engagement.
Strategic and Programmatic Approaches
- Shift focus from beautification projects to ecological functionality and watershed-scale governance.
- Strengthen boundary notification, public mapping, and participatory dispute resolution.
- Ensure treated wastewater inflows, protecting wetlands from untreated sewage dependency.
- Restore catchment connectivity, feeder channels, and regulate extraction and solid waste dumping.
- Integrate wetlands as nature-based infrastructure for disaster risk reduction.
- Build national capacity mission for trained wetland managers and performance-based monitoring.