Four sites from India—two from Haryana (Sultanpur National Park and Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary) and two from Gujarat the Thol Lake Wildlife Sanctuary and the Wadhvana Wetland) have been added to the list of wetlands of international importance in August 2021. There are 46 Ramsar sites in India, including the Chilika Lake in Odisha, Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan, Harike Lake in Punjab, Loktak Lake in Manipur, and Wular Lake in Jammu and Kashmir.
Wetlands
A wetland is a place where the land is covered by water, either salt, fresh, or somewhere in between. Mangroves, marshes, rivers, lakes, deltas, floodplains, and flooded forests, rice-fields, coral reefs, marine areas no deeper than six metres at low tide, as well as human-made wetlands like waste-water treatment ponds and reservoirs, marshes and ponds, the edge of a lake or ocean, the delta at the mouth of a river, low-lying areas that frequently flood are wetlands. As per Geneva Environment Network, wetlands cover only around 6 per cent of the earth’s land surface, with 40 per cent of all plant and animal species living or breeding in wetlands.
The Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. It consists of 171 contracting parties. The convention is named after the Iranian city of Ramsar, on the Caspian Sea, where the treaty was signed on February 2, 1971.
For a wetland site to be recognised as Ramsar site, one or more of the following criteria should be met:
The site contains a representative or rare example of a wetland.
It supports—vulnerable or endangered species; species important for biological diversity; species at a critical stage in their life cycles; 20,000 or more waterbirds; 1 per cent population of one waterbird species; indigenous fish species; 1 per cent of one wetland-dependent animal species; and/or is an important food source for fish.
Montreux Record
The Montreux Record is a register of wetland sites on the List of Wetlands of International Importance where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur due to technological developments, pollution, or other human-made interference. The register includes two Indian sites—Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan) and Loktak Lake (Manipur). Chilka Lake (Odisha) was placed in the record but was removed from it.
The Sites
The Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary and the Sultanpur National Park wetlands provide an ideal winter home for a large number of migratory birds as they contain sufficient food in the form of fish, molluscs, gastropods, arthropods, and hydrophytes. These sites are also ideal resting and roosting places for avifauna.
Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary (353 acre) is a human-made and the largest freshwater wetland in Haryana. Over 265 bird species use the sanctuary throughout the year. More than 40,000 migratory birds visit this site during winter. Bar Headed Goose come here in large numbers. Other winter visitors include Gray Lag Goose, Northern Pintail, Eurasian Teals, Northern Shovellers, Red Crested Pochards, White-tailed Eagle (very rare), Warblers, Lesser and Greater White-fronted Goose, Greater White Pelicans, etc.
Bhindawas has tall trees of Eucalyptus and Babul which provide very good habitat for raptors like Oriental Honey-buzzard, Crested Serpentine Eagle, Indian Spotted Eagle, Greater Spotted Eagle, Common Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, White-breasted Kingfisher, Night Czar, Dusky Eagle Owl, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Yellow-legged Button Quails, and Francolins. The site supports more than 10 globally threatened species including the endangered Egyptian Vulture, Steppe Eagle, Pallas’s Fish Eagle, and Black-bellied Tern.
The Sultanpur National Park (1,000 acre) supports more than 220 species of resident, winter migratory, and local migratory waterbirds at critical stages of their life cycles. Nearly 50,000 migratory birds belonging to over 100 species arrive at Sultanpur from various parts of the world mainly Eurasia in search of feeding grounds and to pass the winter.
Sultanpur is home to a number of rare and endangered species of resident birds like common Hoopoe, Paddy-field Pipit, Purple Sunbird, Little Cormorant, Indian Cormorant, Common Spoonbill, Grey Francolin, Black Francolin, Indian Roller, White-throated Kingfisher, Indian Spot-billed Duck, Painted Stork, Black-necked Stork, White Ibis, Black-headed Ibis, Little Egret, Great Egret, Cattle Egret, Crested Lark, Red-vented Bulbul, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Red-wattled Lapwing, Shikra, Eurasian Collared Dove, Red Collared Dove, Laughing Dove, Spotted Owlet, Rock Pigeon, Magpie Robin, Greater Coucal, Weaver Bird, Bank Mynah, Common Mynah, and Asian Green Bee-eater, etc.
In winter, the site provides a beautiful view of migratory birds such as Sarus Cranes, Demoiselle Crane, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveller, Red-crested Pochard, Gray Lag Goose, Gadwall, Eurasian Wigeon, Black-tailed Godwit, etc. More than 10 of these are globally threatened, including the critically endangered sociable Lapwing, and the endangered Egyptian Vulture, Saker Falcon, Pallas’s Fish Eagle, and Black-bellied Tern.
The Thol Lake Wildlife Sanctuary (1,730 acre) in Gujarat is located on the central Asian Flyway and is home to more than 320 bird species. More than 30 threatened species of water bird like the critically endangered White-rumped vulture and Sociable Lapwing, and the vulnerable Sarus Crane, Common Pochard, and Lesser White-fronted Goose take refuge here.
The Wadhvana Wetland about, (2471 acre) international is significant due to birdlife. The wetland serves as wintering ground to migratory birds including over 80 species that migrate on the Central Asian Flyway. The species of the migratory birds include some threatened or near threatened species, like the endangered Pallas’s Fish Eagle, the vulnerable Common Pochard, the near threatened Dalmation Pelican, Gray-Headed Fish Eagle, and Ferruginous Duck.
Importance of Urban Wetlands
Wetlands play a very important role in environment by supporting high concentrations of biodiversity as well as offering a wide range of important resources and ecosystem services, such as food, water, fibre, groundwater recharge, water purification, flood moderation, storm protection, erosion control, carbon storage, and climate regulation.
They have immense importance in securing local livelihoods through activities like fishing, farming, and tourism.
Wetlands are also important in mitigating climate change effects. They can act as natural filters, helping to remove pollutants from the water. They have the potential to remove up to 60 per cent of metals, trap and retain up to 90 per cent of sediment runoff, and eliminate up to 90 per cent of nitrogen.
Threats to Wetlands
Over the last three centuries, a staggering 87 per cent of the world’s wetlands have been lost in order to provide land for housing, industry, and agriculture. According to recent estimates by Wetlands International South Asia, set up in 1996, nearly 30 per cent of the natural wetlands in India have been lost in the last thirty years, especially in urban areas. Over 80 per cent of our global wastewater is released into wetlands untreated. Pollution from factories, fertilisers, pesticides, or from major spills, all are serious threats to wetlands.
Climate change is another serious threat to wetlands as changes in rainfall and temperature pose a significant threat to wetlands, causing them to dry out. The wetland species like amphibians, migratory birds, and corals are among the first and hardest hit by climate change. Canals, streams, and rivers for transporting water to lower arid regions for irrigation have also impacted the drainage pattern, significantly degrading the wetlands of the region, such as Keoladeo Ghana Sanctuary, Loktak Lake, Chilika Lake, Vembanad Kole, etc. Removal of vegetation in the catchment resulted in soil erosion and siltation. Unrestricted dumping of sewage and toxic chemicals from industries polluted many freshwater wetlands. Exotic introduced plant species like water hyacinth and salvinia have also altered Indian wetlands by clogging waterways and competing with native vegetation.
Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017
The Centre has come out with rules to protect over 2 lakh wetlands across the country. The rules also indirectly widen the ambit of permitted activities by inserting the ‘wise use’ principle, giving powers to state-level wetland authorities to decide what can be allowed in larger interest. The Centre’s role under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, will be restricted to monitoring its implementation by states/union territories, recommending trans-boundary wetlands for notification and reviewing integrated management of selected wetlands under the Ramsar Convention.
© Spectrum Books Pvt Ltd.