Wetlands Management Issues and Challenges
Dr Ritesh Kumar, Director, Wetlands International South Asia This presentation
What are wetlands and why are they important? How have wetlands been managed till date and what have been the outcomes? What is the wetlands wise use approach? What are the principles of wetlands management? What are the tools for managing wetlands? How to assess whether management is effective? How to factor in climate change in wetland management? What are the barriers to integrated management? What is the future ……….
2 1: Wetlands and their importance Ecosystems at interface of land and water
Areas wherein water plays a dominant role in controlling the environment and associated plant and animal life
3 Wetlands In various forms across a landscape
4 Wetland extent
Efforts being made since 1970s to determine extent of wetlands through surveys
Assessed to be ~ 58.3 million ha in 1989 (40.9 million ha under paddy)
Assessment of 2011 to be 15.26 m ha ~ 4.6% of country’s geographic area 73% wetlands are inland State of Gujarat has maximum wetland area (22.7%)
Likely to be an underestimate Limitations of optical technology, classification system
5 Societal resilience
Cities as Bhopal, Chennai and Kollam depend on wetlands for water supply Surface water storage Floodplains of Rivers Ganga and Brahmaputra account Source of Wastewater East Kolkata Wetlands treat for 40% of rice and fish fish, food and treatment production fiber nearly 600 million liters of city’s sewage
Wetlands
High altitude wetlands of Recharge from floodplains ~ Maintenance Groundwater of flow Himalayas are source of 10 35% of utilizable water recharge supply regimes largest rivers of South Asia
Buffer for extreme events
Wetland loss has accentuated flood damage in several cities 6 6 Cradles of life
Loktak - last natural habitat for Manipur Chilika - one of two lagoons in the world Swamp Deer with resident Irrawaddy Dolphin population
HAW of Ladakh - only known Indian Important part of Central Asian Flyway : breeding site for Black necked crane Habitat to nearly 250 of known 870 migratory waterbird species
7 India: a catalytic role in genesis of Ramsar
India agreeing to the establishment of Ramsar Convention in 1971
Ratified the Convention in 1982
8 2: Wetland management - approaches
Wetlands as ‘biodiversity hotspots’ within landscapes, particularly for migrating waterbirds Conservation planning dominated by protected area based approaches Wetlands as protected areas
Keoladeo National Park: Game Reserve of Vedanthangal – irrigation tank conserved as a rulers of Bharatpur herenory atleast since 1790 Wetlands and communities
Temple tanks of Tamil Nadu, managed as Chilika: Community managed fisheries water harvesting infrastructure based on selection of caste and species specific gears Limitations of patch centric management
While the number of Sangai has increased, their habitat has shrunk due to hydrological regime change Drawing lines on water ? Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary
13 Programmatic response Multidimensional – yet challenges remain
14 The Ramsar Site Network Largest in South Asia, third in Asia
15 Diverse species and habitats
16 3: Trends in wetlands Natural wetlands are rapidly declining
17 Wetlands are treated as waste dumps
78% of sewage generated in the country is untreated and ends up in groundwater, wetlands and rivers (CSE, 2016)
18 Wetland dependant species are most stressed
19 Wetlands face multiple pressures
20 Wetlands are increasingly becoming contested spaces
Since 2010,33 cases filed with NGT on wetlands, of which 25 are urban
21 Loss of wetlands make urban spaces vulnerable
(CSE, 2016 – Why urban India floods)
22 Yet cities continue dumping in wetlands Old habits die hard..
Kolkata Guwahati Chennai
Delhi
23 3: What is wetlands management?
• Operational decision- making towards achieving wise use of wetlands. • Entails application of ecological principles to wetlands management to promote long-term sustainability of ecosystems and delivery of ecosystem services to society.
24 4: Wise use of wetlands Maintaining natural properties of the ecosystem
Use of wetland which does not alter the natural properties
Protected Area Livelihoods Management Conservation of Food security, Species and Habitats employment, Water infrastructure recreation, cultural values Water for hydropower, irrigation, domestic supply Kolleru, Andhra Pradesh Large pelicanry of Asian Open-Billed Storks, flood balancing system
Jayanthi et al (2006). Assessment of impact of aquaculture on Kolleru Lake (India) using remote sensing and Geographical Information System. Aquaculture Research.
26 Aquaculture hub of the country At what cost?
A natural floodplain wetland converted into series of aquaculture ponds – while fish production increase, the wetland could no longer buffer floods and sustain diversity of biota
27 5: The principles of managing wetlands
• Systems thinking • Catchment scale management • Adaptive management • Collaborative decision-making
28 Systems thinking Coupled systems of nature and people
29 Systems thinking
Some level of disturbance enhances system resilience for several wetland types
30 Systems thinking Wetlands as social-ecological systems
Ecological sub-systems Governance Social sub-system Biotic and abiotic Use of Built infrastructure and elements institutionalized assets Ecosystem processes power to shape Norms and belief wetland condition Formal and informal and change institutions
31 Catchment scale management
The health of a wetland is closely dependant on the health of the catchment
32 Adaptive management Management is an experiment – monitor, learn and improvize
33 Grazing in Keoladeo
In 1970s, a stone-wall was constructed around Bharatpur to control cattle grazing
The park gradually saw increased growth of Paspalum and water hyacinth
Controlled grazing is now a part of park management
34 The limitation of prescriptive approaches
Keoladeo landscape is replicated in several wetlands – in some cases such as Nawabganj (Uttar Pradesh) the number of waterbirds using the wetlands have come down drastically
35 Collaborative decision-making
Water resources
Fisheries Tourism
Energy Biodiversity
There is a need for Forest Department to coordinate Revenue with multiple sectors 6: Management tools
• River Basin Management • Water allocation • Landscape zoning for multiple values • Ecosystem services valuation for development mainstreaming • Habitat management • Communication, Education and Participation • Governance
37 Integrating wetlands in river basin management
38 Determining water allocation
39 Management zoning
Balancing multiple wetland uses
40 Ecosystem Services
Programme investment of Rs. 1545 million in 24 years (Rs. 2208 million at 5% discount41 rate), on annual basis cost benefit ratio ~ 1: 6.9 Communicating wetlands
42 Habitat management Managing water levels and quality to suit species habitat needs
43 Habitat management Regulating salinity and tides to enable mangroves to reestablish
44 Addressing livelihoods
Poachers trained as bird guides KIDS Kottapuram converted water hyacinth in Mangalajodi into an economic enterprise
45 Governance
Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 – State Wetlands Authorities as nodal institutions at state
Creating participatory management environment
Blending formal and informal institutions
46 Governance Using a mix of formal and informal institutional arrangements
47 Governing by sharing power
Keshopur Miami Community Reserve – Dhanuri Wetlands – a birdwatchers’ Forest Department manages alongwith five paradise near to National Capital Region – villages Farmers waiting for compensation Reactive and proactive management From focus on symptoms to root causes
• Mechanical removal • Economic Utilization
Nutrient Altered habitat Water regime enrichment modification
Pollution Habitat Water abatement management management Underlying ailment Role in ecosystem? Management depends on the state of disturbance
50 Management does not always mean intervening
Not intervening is also an important management decision!
51 7: Evaluating success
Framework for evaluation of management effectiveness (Hocking et al. 2006)
52 Evaluating Success Health Card 8: Climate Change Implications for hydrological regimes
Increased inundation variability
Riverine wetlands may see reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus, but isolated wetlands may be net sinks Climate Change Implications for wetland biota
Increase in water Warming and Increased rainfall Advanced temperature and nutrient prolonged drying may be conducive breeding periods may adversely of Indian Major conditions may create impact on for habitats of favorable conditions for ectothermic waterbirds Carps emergent macrophytes species Factoring in climate change
Stationarity based management approaches to replace management for uncertainty
• Adaptive management • Embrace modelling • Being realistic about uncertainty
Monitoring may provide clues to adaptive management 9: Barriers to integrated management
• Diverse terms • Single sector management • Tendency to keep people out • Prescriptive and top-down approaches • Limited capacities Sectoral approaches Addressing historical mismanagement Willow plantation in Kashmir
Willow introduced in Wular to grow fuelwood
Willow plantation have led to extensive sedimentation in the wetland, reducing its flood buffering capacity
Willow plantations had to be removed to regain the water holding capacity of the wetland More challenges………….
Maguri Beel in Assam – on fire due Sambhar – 80,000 + bird deaths to Baghjan Oil fields Blowout due to avian botulism In conclusion
• Wetlands managers will play a crucial role in India’s quest for sustainable development and climate security • Wetlands need to be managed for wise use – development pathways which do not alter the ecological character • Management must be based on a systems approach and a basin scale • Adaptive management informed by close monitoring of wetland ecosystem may help reduce uncertainty • Intersectoral governance arrangements are essential to reconcile tradeoffs and develop a shared view of the management • Interventions should be aligned with ecological functioning – reactive as well as proactive measures are needed, not intervening is also a management decision!
61 Dr Ritesh Kumar Director Wetlands International South Asia
Wetlands International
@WetlandsInt
Wetlands International