22nd July 2023 (7 Topics)
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Importance of Wetland Conservation
Context
The recent Delhi floods are and urgent indication to improve the city’s drainage systems. They also point to Delhi’s diminishing natural line of defence — its water bodies and wetlands — against such hazards, without which the river cannot drain its water naturally.
What are wetlands?
- India’s Wetland Rules 2017define wetlands areas of marsh, fen, peat land or water, including lakes/ponds, oxbow lakes, riverine wetlands, tanks, lagoons and mangroves, performing critical ecological functions for wildlife habitat, groundwater recharge, carbon storage and water regulation.
- These ecosystems exist as mangroves, marshes, peatlands, ponds, lakes, reservoirs, floodplains, and deltas.
- Many Indian cities are endowed with wetlands, such as Kolkata (East Kolkata Wetlands), Mumbai (mangroves), Chennai (Adyar flood plains) and Guwahati (Deepor Beel Lake).
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India has over 757000 wetlands which cover 15.3 million hectares or about 4.7% of the geographical area of the country. |
Benefits of Wetlands
- Climate resilience: Wetlands are crucial to our defence against climate change.
- Carbon storage: With their thick canopies and aerial roots (especially mangroves), wetland floral species have an immense capacity to store carbon.
- Buffer: They act as buffers against storms, prevent flooding, control erosion, and store and purify water.
- Biodiversity hotspots: They also serve as biodiversity hotspots.
- Tangible benefits: They have tangible environmental and economic benefits through flood control, fish production and the treatment of wastewater (such as sewage).
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Threats to Wetlands |
Impact |
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Government Initiatives to conserve wetland
- Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules 2010: In 2016, the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules 2010 was bought under the umbrella of the Environment (Protection) Act 1986.
- Wetland management: In January 2021, the National Mission for Clean Ganga formulated a local stakeholders-focused toolkit for wetland management in cities.
- Census of waterbodies: The Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation launched the census of waterbodies in 2018-19, published as a Census Reportof pan-India waterbodies.
- Out of the enumerated 24,24,540 water bodies, 97.1 percent (23,55,055) are in rural areas, while 2.9 percent (69,485) are in urban areas.
- Amrit Sarovar Mission: The Government of India launched the mission in 2022. Under the Mission, 75 water bodies will be developed and rejuvenated in each district of the country as a part of the celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
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