Dr. Arvind Kumar*
The world has witnessed climate change impacts in the form of rising temperatures, receding glaciers, drying rivers, reduction in wetlands and aberrant and untimely weather conditions causing natural calamities and loss of biodiversity. Scientists worldwide are looking at the ecological and hydrological impacts resulting from climate change and this in turn has amplified the need for awareness about conservation of nature and wetlands in particular. Wetlands include mangroves, peatlands and marshes, rivers and lakes, deltas, floodplains and flooded forests, rice-fields, and even coral reefs; they exist in every country and in every climatic zone.
Wetlands are the primary sources of freshwater, buffers of floods and droughts, recycler of nutrients and chemicals, and inextricably intertwined with our culture and identity. The wetlands are “biological super systems” producing great volumes of food and supporting remarkable level of biodiversity with myriad species of birds, fish, amphibians, shellfish, and insects.
Mainstreaming wetlands ecosystem services and biodiversity into our developmental policies and urban planning processes, including climate change mitigation is the pressing need of the hour. These things can be achieved only if we have more scientific data, imagery, maps and other relevant tools to provide knowledge on the status of wetlands and most importantly stronger enforcement of rules. My experience at the board of governors of world water council and globally has summed up to finding out if different public policies are impacting on water without coordination. We have to work to bring them together. A much greater flow of investment is necessary to close the infrastructure gap and to manage that infrastructure to bring water services to everyone. Restoration efforts are likely to fail if the sources of degradation persist. Therefore, it is essential to identify the causes of degradation and eliminate or remediate ongoing stresses wherever possible like encroachments, pollution, drainage of wetlands etc. Some wetlands also play a role in combating the impacts of climate change like floods and extreme weather events. Wetlands are also amongst the earth’s top carbon stores and their conservation can help in reducing carbon emissions.
However, the world has already lost around 87 percent of natural wetlands since the 1700s and 35 percent have disappeared since the 1970s. India has lost nearly one-third of its natural wetlands to urbanization, agricultural expansion and pollution over the last four decades. According to the Global Wetland Outlook by the Ramsar Convention, wetlands, among the world’s most economically valuable ecosystems and regulators of the global climate, are disappearing three times faster than forests but are home to 40% of the world’s plant and animals. Around 4.63 percent of the geographical area of India is wetlands.
For the crucial role they play in our lives, do we really know enough about them? The wetlands are in rural areas. In urban areas and in forests, who is the custodian of these wetlands? Is there an adequate and appropriate coordination among various agencies in this domain?
As member of the National wetlands Committee of the ministry of Environment forests and climate change while drafting the guidelines for the Wetlands Conservation and Management Rules, 2017 pushed for the participation of local communities in governing and monitoring wetlands. With the advent of these guidelines around 757,000 wetlands with a total wetland area of 15.3 million ha, accounting for nearly 4.7% of the total geographical area of the country were identified. India is now a land of 75 Ramsar Sites. In the guidelines we linked the wetlands to revenue records which further lead to more wetlands cropping up through GIS mapping and more by removing encroachments. The guidelines clarified that all wetlands, irrespective of their location, size, ownership can be notified under the Wetlands Rules 2017. The initiative of Prime Minister Sh. Modi of 75 Amritsarovar in each district if implemented properly will be a revolutionary initiative in achieving complete water security of the country and also action for climate change.
The restoration and management of wetlands is a solution for several key challenges around the world related to water, food and climate, and key to meeting the SDGs and addresses SDGs 2, 6, 11, 13, 14, 15 comprehensively. Wetlands contribute to all of the 17 SDGs, either directly or indirectly and their conservation and wise use represent a cost-effective investment for governments. The key is integrated approach. SDGs can only be effectively implemented and achieved if they are localised and integrated in to our policies. Engaging stakeholders at all levels to facilitate integration of wetland conservation and restoration into livelihood strategies. There needs to be a paradigm shift in understanding the perception of water as an integral part of ecosystem, a natural resource and socio-economic indicator. Adaptation needs to be there against risks emanating from water-induced and environment-induced vagaries in terms of insecurity of water, food and energy sectors, floods, drought, water and air pollution, erosion of land, loss of biodiversity, deforestation and loss of livelihoods.
In the same spirit, at COP26, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) coordinated the Peatland Pavilion, wherein technology, best practice and experiences were shared. Peatlands were featured prominently as a Nature-based Solution, with close to 50 events live-streamed on the virtual platform. It was important, as recent decades have seen peatlands damaged and degraded by drainage, agricultural conversion, burning and mining for fuel, the result of undervaluation of its ecosystem and economic contributions. The Peatland Pavilion at COP26 was a good start, but urgent action needs to be taken now. At the forthcoming trilogy of COPs, i.e. UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), Montreal Biodiversity Conference, and COP14 of Ramsar Convention Wetlands; we need to address wetland loss not just as a biodiversity crisis but as a development crisis manifesting into increased water, food, and climate insecurity, and wetland conservation should feature as an independent topic of discussion in the negotiations for effective carbon sequestration and invest in wetland protection and restoration – so that wetlands become a tool to fight climate change, rather than intended or unintended spill-over to it. It is crucial that policy-makers in various domains avoid undermining each other’s efforts to establish a network and instead strive for policy coherence, continuous development, and implementation of comprehensive strategies to achieve all relevant SDGs and targets via whole of society approach.
*President, India Water Foundation
