World Wetlands Day 2024: Before we save them, we have to know where they actually are

World Wetlands Day 2024: Before we save them, we have to know where they actually are

Subject: Environment

Sec: Ecosystem

Context:

• The wetlands in Uttar Pradesh, constituting about 90% outside protected areas, are facing significant threats due to encroachments and conversion into real estate.

Details:

• Till October 2023, as many as 75 wetlands in the country have been categorised as Ramsar sites, out of which 10 are in Uttar Pradesh. 
• The first national inventory of wetlands was prepared by the Space Applications Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Ahmedabad using remote-sensing satellite data from 1992-93.
• In 2007, the Space Application Centre prepared another digital database of wetlands under “National Wetland Inventory and Assessment” using remote-sensing techniques.
• Many wetlands are formed by oxbow lakes (U-shaped lakes), which in turn formed naturally by the meandering streams.
• The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules of 2010, enacted under the Environment Protection Act of 1986, make it compulsory for the state government to identify, demarcate and officially designate all wetlands across the state within a stipulated period of two years.
• Due to various anthropogenic threats, including high loads of pollutants from agricultural runoff, industrial waste and sewage, native species of wetlands are being replaced by invasive species. Invasive species can outcompete native plants and animals within wetlands. This can lead to a disturbance in the ecosystem, ultimately diminishing the overall health of the wetland.

What is a Wetland?

• A wetland is a piece of land that serves as a transition between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, typically with a water table that is at or near the surface or on the surface of shallow water.
• It supplies a diverse range of ecosystem services, including aquifer recharge, water storage, water purification, flood mitigation, and erosion control.
• Wetlands provide habitat to a variety of native species of plants and animals as well as thousands of winter migratory birds. They prevent settlements from getting flooded by absorbing excess rainwater and then releasing it slowly during dry seasons or droughts. They also help sequestrate carbon, which helps mitigate climate change.

Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules of 2017: Salient features

• It specifies that a State Wetland Authority (SWA) be established in each state and union territory, to be led by the state’s environment minister.
• A variety of government representatives will be present. Hydrology, socioeconomics, landscape design, fisheries, and wetland ecology each had one specialist.
• They will choose the “smart use principle” that will control how wetlands are managed.
• The principles of sustainable use that are acceptable to conservation are referred to as “wise use.” Powers have been decentralised as a result of this.
• The SWA must compile a thorough list of the activities that must be governed and approved in the notified wetlands and their zone of influence.
  • Add further activities that should be forbidden in some wetlands.
  • Develop plans for a more effective use of wetlands.
  • Recommend actions to protect wetlands and to increase local communities’ and stakeholders’ knowledge of the significance of wetlands.
• The Central Wetlands Regulatory Authority will be replaced by the National Wetland Committee (NWC), which will be led by the MoEFCC secretary.
• The rules forbid activities like encroachment of any kind, the establishment and growth of industries, waste disposal, and the discharge of untreated wastes and effluents from businesses, cities, towns, villages, and other human settlements.
• State authorities are required to compile a list of all wetlands and a list of wetlands that need to be informed within six months.
• It will serve as the foundation for the creation of an exhaustive digital inventory of all wetlands, which will be updated every 10 years.

Drawbacks of the 2017 rules:

• River channels, paddy fields, man-made water bodies/tanks specifically constructed for drinking water purposes, and structures specifically constructed for aquaculture, salt production, recreation, and irrigation purposes are not included in the 2017 rules’ definition of wetland.
• According to this new definition (excluding the aforementioned wetlands), nearly 65 per cent of the country’s wetlands will lose their status.
  • Because they are not considered wetlands, the management and protection granted to river channels and man-made wetlands will be ineffective.
• Wetlands are defined and included by the respective state or territory. This may result in a lack of consistency in defining and conserving the country’s wetlands.
• In the 2017 Rules, the older provision of appealing to the National Green Tribunal no longer exists.
• There is also no timetable for eliminating the dumped of solid waste and untreated waste into wetlands.
• The new rules do not take into account the Supreme Court’s decision in Jagpal Singh vs. State of Punjab (2011) for the restoration of encroached wetlands across the country.
• Understanding multiple-use regimes is important for wetland conservation, but so is preserving and managing the wetland ecosystem’s integrity.

Source: DTE