Management through Wetlands Conservation in. India. Dr. Sanjeev Sharma* ... Key words: Wetland, Ecosystem, Ecosystem services, Conservation, Ramsar, ...
5 Wetlands: Strategy for Natural Resource Management through Wetlands Conservation in India Dr. Sanjeev Sharma*, Rohit Rattan**, Pushpinder S. Jamwal**, Rakesh Kumar*** and Sudeep Shukla****
ABSTRACT Wetlands are extremely important natural resources. They have been studied, described and classified variously by many. They represent a very productive type of ecosystem which holds great significance for nature as well as human society. The wide array of ecosystem services that they offer supports human lives and sustains economy at local and national levels, yet they are threatened by incessant, lunatic human greed. The human society marred by ignorance has exploited them indefinitely for short-term gains without the thought of the consequences of their degradation and loss. Since 1900, around half of the world’s wetlands have disappeared. It was in the sixties that their worth was started being realized, leading to Ramsar Convention in 1971 which further necessitated for signatories to draft polices for wetland conservation and wise use. Despite having a reasonable policy framework, the wetlands in India are not in a good condition. There is need for a mass-awareness campaign by wetland managers and conservation organizations to gather support for their conservation and wise-use. Key words: Wetland, Ecosystem, Ecosystem services, Conservation, Ramsar, Policy, Wise-use
Introduction Wetland is a broad term used for all kinds of habitats which remain wet for an amount of time which is enough for them to serve as habitats. Wetlands are not necessarily needed to be permanently wet. This term was for the first time used formally in 1956 in a publication by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Martin et al., 1953; Shaw & Fredine, 1956 and Tiner, 2005). They defined “wetlands as lowlands covered with shallow and sometimes temporary or intermittent waters referred to by such names as marshes, swamps, bogs, wet meadows, potholes, sloughs, and river-overflow lands”. But lately, wetlands have been defined and written about widely by many scientists across the world. The most popular wetland definitions are: The wetlands are lands where saturation with water is the dominant factor determining *
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Assistant Professor, Department of General & Applied Geography, School of Applied Sciences, Dr. H.S. Gour Central University, Sagar. (Madhya Pradesh) WWF-India, Field Office, ITI Road, Rajouri, J&K, India University of Jammu, Jammu, J&K, India Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 42
Wetlands: Strategy for Natural Resource Management through Wetlands Conservation in India
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the nature of soil development and the types of plant and animal communities living in the soil and on its surface (Cowardin et. al, 1979). This definition was later adopted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Wetlands are defined as ‘lands transitional between terrestrial and aquatic eco-systems where the water table is usually at or near the surface or the land is covered by shallow water (Mitsch and Gosselink, 1986). A wetland is an ecosystem that arises when inundation by water produces soils which are dominated by anaerobic processes, which, in turn, forces the biota, particularly rooted plants, to adapt to flooding (Keddy, 2010). The most widely recognized definition of wetlands was given by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. It defines the wetlands as: the areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed 6 meters (Finlayson and Moser, 1991). Because of wetlands being transitional areas, they have the tendency to possess characteristics of both the terrestrial and the aquatic ecosystems while at the same time also possessing those characteristics which are unique to themselves. However different all the wetlands of different types might be, they share some common features which are important for them to be considered as wetlands. A wetland, therefore, must have: • hydrology that results in wet or flooded soils (hydric soils) • soils which are dominated by anaerobic processes, and • life forms, particularly the rooted vascular plants, which are adapted to life in flooded, anaerobic environments. Types of wetlands Several attempts have been made to classify the wetlands (Cowardin et al., 1979; Briggs, 1981; Paijmans et al., 1985; Scott, 1989; Gopal and Sah, 1995). Different classification schemes have put emphasis on different aspects of wetlands including their geomorphology, hydrology, vegetation, water chemistry or substrate characteristics, and accordingly, wetlands have been grouped together variously into several groups (Gopal et al. 1990). Stanton (1975) proposed a classification for the wetlands in Queensland into tidal and inland wetlands which were further divided on the basis of either vegetation (mangroves, salt marshes, salt mudflats and saltwater meadows) or the duration and frequency of flooding. The most comprehensive classification system developed till date is that of Cowardin et al. (1979) which suggested a hierarchy that consists of wetland systems, subsystems, and classes. The systems and subsystems are based on geomorphological criteria whereas the classes generally emphasize the nature of the substratum and physiognomy of the vegetation. Hydrology, water chemistry and soil characteristics are used as modifiers at class and subclass level. A major limitation of classification by Cowardin is its complexity for practical purposes. Briggs (1981) classified wetlands on the basis of their vegetation Paijmans et al. (1985) classified them on the basis of both vegetation and hydrology. In trying to categorize the wide range of wetlands encompassed by the Ramsar definition, Scott (1989) defined 30 groups of natural wetlands and nine manmade ones. Gopal and Sah (1995) proposed a classification for the Indian wetlands on the basis of hydrological factors and the vegetation types which develop under specific hydrological regimes. But the most widely accepted classification scheme for wetlands has been devised by the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention). This classification system divides wetlands into three major classes which are further divided into a total of 42 wetland types (table 1). Various wetland types are represented by codes approved by recommendation 4.7 and amended by Resolutions VI.5 and VII.11 of the Conference of the Contracting Parties. This classification is intended to provide a very broad framework to aid rapid identification of the main wetland habitats represented at each site (Ramsar Convention website).
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Managing Our Resources : Perspectives and Planning
Table 1 Ramsar Classification System for Wetland Type Marine/Coastal Wetlands
A B C D ! E " F # G $ H $
I $ %
J & % K
Zk (a) ' & Inland Wetlands
L M N O P
% & & " && % & &
( %) * " &
( %) *
Q & & R " & & & Sp & & & Ss " & & & & Tp
& ( ) * % Ts " &
& U + Va ,
Wetlands: Strategy for Natural Resource Management through Wetlands Conservation in India
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Vt - W "
Xf .
Xp . Y .
Zg / Zk (b) ' Human-made wetlands
1 , ( & * 2 ( ) * 3 $ 4 " ( % 0 * 5 " 6 1 % & & & ( %)
* 7 #% % && 8 1 9 Zk (c) ' Source: http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-news-latest-classification-system/main/ramsar/1-26 76%5E21235_4000_0_
2 % % (" 3444* 5 Marine:, 66 - % - % % 1 % % ( * Estuarine5, % -
- % % Riverine: ,
- 7
89: Lacustrine: , " % ;8=8 * % % 1
Wetland Eco system services 1 % % % 1 % =8
