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Comprehensive Management Action Plan for Wular Lake, Kashmir Final Report Prepared for the : Department of Wildlife Protection Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir By : JuneMarch 2007 2006 Wetlands International - South Asia Final Report COMPREHENSIVE MANAGEMENT ACTION PLAN FOR WULAR LAKE, KASHMIR Submitted by : Wetlands International - South Asia A-25, (2nd Floor), Defence Colony New Delhi – 110 024 Tel : +91 11 24338906, 32927908 Fax : +91 11 24338906 E-mail : [email protected] URL : www.wetlands.org June 2007 Wetlands International - South Asia Acknowledgement The Comprehensive Management Action Plan on Wular Lake was prepared by Wetlands International – South Asia under an assignment from the Department of Wildlife Protection, Government of Jammu and Kashmir. We wish to thank our team of experts who were engaged in management planning process. These include Ajaz Rasool (water management), D N Trisal (land use regulation and management), G.H. Kango (catchment conservation), C M Seth and AR Wani (wildlife conservation), G M Shah (waterbird conservation), N A Quareshi (fisheries development) and S N Ahmad, KEPCO (livelihood improvement). The management planning team also immensely benefited by the comments received on the draft report by several experts, of which M R D Kundangar deserves a special mention. Several state government departments extended support to the management plan formulation through providing data, information and comments on the draft report. These include the departments of archives, wildlife protection, forests, fisheries, revenue, planning, environment and remote sensing, irrigation and flood control, agriculture, tourism, Lakes and Waterways Development Authority and Wular and Manasbal Development Authority. Their support is gratefully acknowledged. We extend our sincere gratitude to local communities and NGO groups who participated in rapid appraisals and provided insights into lake management issues based on their long term understanding of the ecosystem trends and livelihood linkages. The hospitality provided by the staff of the State Guest House, Srinagar during the period of field investigations is greatly appreciated. The financial support provided by the Department of Wildlife Protection, Government of Jammu and Kashmir is gratefully acknowledged. Comprehensive Management Action Plan for Wular Lake, Kashmir Wetlands International – South Asia CONTENTS Executive Summary 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Purpose of Comprehensive Management Action Plan 1 1.2 Project Area 2 1.3 Terms of Reference 3 1.4 Approach and Methodology 5 1.5 Structure of Project Report 6 2. Rationale and Scope 7 2.1 Wetlands of River Jhelum Basin 7 2.2 Wular Lake: Ecological and Socioeconomic Features 8 2.2.1 Wetland Catchments 8 2.2.2 Hydrological Regimes 14 2.2.3 Biodiversity 26 2.2.4 Socioeconomics 46 2.3 Developmental Activities and their Impacts 51 2.4 Institutional Arrangement 56 2.5 Current Management Practices and Gaps 57 2.6 Key Issues 58 3. Management Planning Framework 61 3.1 Goal & Purpose 62 3.2 Management Zoning 62 3.3 Objectives, Targets, Indicators & Strategy 64 3.4 Project Outcomes 77 3.5 Risks and Assumptions 78 3.6 Implementation Arrangements 79 4. Action Plan 84 4.1 Survey and Demarcation 84 4.1.1 Mapping and Ground truthing 84 4.1.2 Boundary Demarcation 84 4.2 Catchment Conservation 84 4.2.1 Treatment of Degraded Forests 84 4.2.2 Management of High Altitude Pastures 86 4.2.3 Management of Horticulture and Dryland Agriculture 87 4.2.4 Alternate Sources of Energy 87 4.3 Water Management 88 4.3.1 Enhancing Water Holding Capacity 88 Comprehensive Management Action Plan for Wular Lake, Kashmir Wetlands International – South Asia 4.3.2 Rejuvenation of Associated Wetlands 89 4.3.3 Water Quality Improvement 89 4.3.4 Water Allocation for Human and Ecological Purposes 93 4.4 Biodiversity Conservation 93 4.4.1 Waterbird Conservation 93 4.4.2 Wildlife Conservation 101 4.4.3 Management of Aquatic Vegetation 102 4.5 Ecotourism Development 102 4.5.1 Development of Recreational Facilities 102 4.5.2 Development of Visitor Education Facilities 104 4.5.3 Infrastructure Development 104 4.5.4 Publication of Posters, Brochures and Booklets 105 4.6 Sustainable Resources Development & Livelihood 105 Improvement 4.6.1 Sustainable Fisheries Development 105 4.6.2 Economic Utilization of Aquatic Vegetation 110 4.6.3 Livelihood Improvement 110 4.7 Institutional Development 112 4.7.1 Establishment of Wular Development Authority 112 4.7.2 Capacity Building 113 4.7.3 Communication, Education and Public Awareness 113 4.7.4 Monitoring and Evaluation 114 5. Budget and Workplan 116 5.1 Project Budget 116 5.1.1 Workplan 5.1.2 Yearwise Phasing 5.2 Economic Analysis 129 5.2.1 Project Cost and Benefits 129 5.2.2 Project Efficiency 133 5.2.3 Sensitivity Analysis 134 5.2.4 Risk Analysis 135 Annexes References Glossary Acronyms Comprehensive Management Action Plan for Wular Lake, Kashmir Wetlands International - South Asia Executive Summary Wular Lake, the largest freshwater lake within River Jhelum basin plays a significant role in the hydrography of the Kashmir valley by acting as a huge absorption basin for floodwaters. The lake with its associated wetlands is an important habitat for migratory waterbirds within Central Asian Flyway and supports rich biodiversity. It is a major fishery resource in the valley supporting a large population living along its fringes. The wetland also generates revenue to the state government through fisheries and auctioning of water chestnut, fodder, and other economically important species. The catchment of the lake supports coniferous forests, and alpine pastures adding to the natural beauty and biodiversity of the wetland area. Recognizing importance of the wetland for its biodiversity and socio economic values, the Wular Lake was designated as a Wetland of International Importance under Ramsar Convention in 1990. The processes and functions of Wular Lake are inextricably linked with the hydrological regimes of River Jhelum. Almost all the lakes located within different altitudinal gradients are directly or indirectly interlinked with River Jhelum. The impacts within the river system upstream and downstream are bound to have impacts on overall ecological functioning and socio-economic benefits derived from these wetlands. An integrated water resources management approach recognizing interconnectedness of wetlands with their catchments is imperative for their sustainable management. Sectoral developmental activities have, however, failed to recognize the immense role of the Wular Lake leading to its degradation. Revenue centric approaches followed aimed at short term economic gains without realizing their long-term implications on the overall sustainability of the lake ecosystem. The developmental activities in the upstream reaches have further created severe downstream impacts, thereby threatening the tenability of the overall ecological and economic efficiency of resource utilization. Despite wetland based livelihoods, particularly tourism being the major sectors of economic growth in the valley, no attempts have been made for the management of Wular with Jhelum basin into developmental planning. The major thrust has been on the Dal Lake ignoring Wular although the largest wetland within Jhelum basin. Although the state government has recently constituted Wular and Mansbal Development Authority under aegis of Department of Tourism, the current March 2007 institutional arrangements are ineffective coordinated actions for integrated Comprehensive Management Action Plan for Wular Lake, Kashmir i Wetlands International - South Asia management. Local communities, central to lake management have been ignored in the planning and implementation process. Lack of understanding of the values and functions of Wular Lake and its associated wetlands have led to conversion of its large area for agriculture, settlements, plantations and other developmental activities. All along the periphery, particularly in Sonawari the wetlands were drained through government sponsored programmes for agriculture development. Bunds were built up at various lake contour levels for the protection of crops and settlements against floods thereby fragmenting the lake ecosystem and changing its ecological character. Measures undertaken for flood protection, without considering connectivity of wetland and the role of Wular in hydrological regimes, have led to quick drainability and impairment of their capacity to moderate high flows and ability to retain water during the lean season. Catchment degradation leading to soil erosion and its deposition in the lake has further decreased water absorption capacity of the lake ecosystem. The increasing demand for firewood has brought a vast area of the lake under willow plantations mainly through the government sponsored schemes which have contributed to shrinkage of the lake area, degradation of resource base and overall poverty of marginalized communities depending on these resources for sustenance. The approach followed for formulation of comprehensive management action plan on Wular Lake emphasizes on development of effective institutional mechanisms for conservation and management of Wular Lake within Jhelum Basin. Interlinkages of hydrological processes and biodiversity conservation have been assessed to develop strategies for sustainable resource management aiming at livelihood improvement of the communities while maintaining the ecosystem integrity. Although the data was grossly inadequate, broad trends emerged

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