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