Understanding World Wetlands Day

N Munal Meitei *

World Wetlands Day observed by Loktak Development Authority (LDA) at Khordak on 02 February 2013
Pix - Loktak Development Authority (LDA)

The 2nd February is the World Wetlands Day and it is celebrated all over the world. It marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on the 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea and was adopted by the participating 18 nations, and it came into force on December 21, 1975. There is a standing Committee, a Scientific review panel, and a Secretariat. The headquarters is located in Gland, Switzerland, shared with the IUCN.

Presently, there are 159 contracting parties (Countries). Signatories meet every three years as the Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP), the first held in Cagliari, Italy in 1980. The Ramsar logo is a soaring blue bird of unknown species, trailed by swathes of pastel blue and green adopted on 1989. Each year since 1997, Government agencies, non-Govemmental organizations, and Groups of citizens all over the World have taken advantage of the opportunity to undertake actions aimed at raising public awareness of wetland values and benefits in general, and the Ramsar Convention in particular.

The World Wetlands Day theme for 2013 is "Wetlands and Water management", with the slogan "Wetlands take care of water". Wetlands provide important hydrological functions such as groundwater recharge, water quality improvement and flood alleviation.

The health of wetlands depends on the quality and quantity of water that reaches them. To secure their conservation and wise use, it is essential that they are managed in the wider context of catchment-scale water resource management.

The key objective of this year's World Wetlands Day is to raise people's awareness of the interdependence between water and wetlands, to highlight ways to ensure the equitable sharing of water between different stakeholder groups and to understand that without wetlands there will be no water. This event will not only highlight the wetlands as a great place to visit, but also stress the need for care and respect of wetland environments to ensure visitors and wildlife can continue to enjoy the wetlands well into the future. Wisely using our wetlands is an essential component of the delivery of sustainable water management.

On this day, it is observed, how to manages water and look into the challenges from governance to transboundary, agricultural and urban water management issues, to water storage issues and water diversion schemes. Finally, it is try to take care at the global, regional and local level by ensuring that wetland ecosystems and their water are well managed for the benefit of humanity and other Bio-di-versity.

The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands especially the Waterfowl Habitat, i.e. "to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value".

It is the only global environmental treaty that deals with a particular ecosystem, and the Convention's member countries cover all geographic regions of the planet. The Convention's mission is "the conservation and wise use of. all wetlands through local and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world". The Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance now includes 1,888 sites known as Ramsar Sites covering around 1,853,000 km2. The nation with the highest number of sites is the United Kingdom at 168; the nation with the greatest area of listed wetlands is Canada, with over 130.000 km2.

These sites can also be quite small - the wonderfully named Fardrum and Roosky Turloughs in Northern Ireland, for example, is just 0.41 km2 and the largest is the Queen Maud Gulf Migratory Bird Sanctuary in Canada with 62,800 km2.

As defined by Ramsar, a wetland is "an area of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt and including areas of intertidal marine water" . Water is the source of life. All organisms contain water and depend on it for survival. Water is crucial for all biodiversity including mankind. In a wide range of ecosystems, water is a dominant component.

Water bodies or Wetlands are among the world's most productive environments. They are cradles of biological diversity, providing the water and primary productivity upon which countless species of plants and animals depend for survival. They support high concentrations of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrate species. Wetlands are also important storehouses of plant genetic material.

Rice, for example, which is a common wetland plant, is the staple diet of more than half of global humanity. In short, we can say, Wetlands keep our planet alive and well. Naturally-functioning wetlands provide a range of under-appreciated benefits and services for people's livelihoods and well-being, including food, fibre, flood protection, water purification and cultural values, as well as water supply.

However, these wetlands are often extremely vulnerable. The use of water by people has strongly affected almost all wetlands on Earth. The construction of dams changes the course and ecology of rivers; pollution, water-extraction, development and tourism activities threaten the biodi- versity of lakes; fens, mires and bogs are being exploited industrially or converted into agricultural land; and climate change has large implications for many wetland areas.

Wetlands are extremely important for many taxa e.g. fish, terrapins and drugon flies. Waterbirds such as herons, egrets, swans, ducks and geese, and waders, use wetlands during the majority of their lifetime. At least 12% of all Globally Threatpned Birds, (146 species) MSSBASIIX wetlands. The most important types of wetlands for these birds are lakes and pools; rivers and streams; bogs, marshes and swamps; and coastal lagoons.

Due mainly to their importance for large congregations of waterbirds, wetlands make up a high percentage of Important Bird Areas (IBA). 69% of all European IBAs contain wetlands. Of those, 57% include freshwater lakes or ponds, 44% rivers and streams, 19% fens or mires and 13% mudflats and sand flats.

India presently has 19 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance, with a surface area of 648,507 hectares, they are:-
Ashtamudi Wetland in Kerala,
Bhitarkanika Mangroves, a Wild-life Sanctuary in Orissa,
Bhoj Wetland in Madhya Pradesh,
Chilika Lake in Orissa,
Dee-por Beel, a Sanctuary in Assam,
East Calcutta Wet-lands in West Bengal,
Harike Lake, a Bird Sanctuary in Punjab,
Kanjli also in Punjab,
Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan,
Kolleru Lake, a Wildlife Sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh,
Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu,
Pong Dam Lake, a Wildlife Sanctuary in Himachal Pradesh,
Ropar, a National Wet-land in Punjab,
Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan,
Sasthamkotta Lake, the largest fresh water lake in Kerala,
Tsomoriri of Jammu & Kashmir,
Vembanad-Kol, a Wetland in Kerala,
Wular Lake, the largest freshwater lake of India in Jammu & Kashmir and
the Loktak Lake, the largest fresh water Lake of North East India in Manipur.

The Loktak lake has an area of 26,600 ha. and it was adopted as Ramsar site with No. 463 on 23-3-1990. It was then added to the Montreux Record on the 16 June 1993 but not yet removed.

The Montreux Record is the sites on the List of Wetlands of International importance which arc considered to have undergone, to be undergoing, or to be likely to undergo change in their ecological character brought about by human action.

Loktak is a large, but shrinking freshwater lake and, associated swamplands sup , plied by several streams. Thick, floating mass of weeds covered with soil called phumdi are the characteristic feature. The only floating National Park of the world, the Keibul Lamjao National Park, the home of the highly endangered Manipur Sangai, (Rucervus eldii eldii) is in this lake. The lake is used extensively by local people for about 40 villages as a source of their livelihood.

The lake is an important wintering and staging area for waterbirds, particularly ducks. It also plays an important role in flood control. As a result of ecological problems such as deforestation in the catchment areas, proliferation of water hyacinth, reeds and pollution, the lake is facing a numerous problems. The construction of Ithai Barrage across the Manipur River for the Loktak Hydroelectric Power Project and irrigation purposes has caused an acute challenges to the live and habitat of the Sangai and also the local extinction of several native fishes.

This local extinction of fishes from Loktak Lake is estimated upto 18 species so far. Due to lack of vegetation over the catchments, about 4.5 million tones of top soil are eroded annually into the valley and out of which 0.65 million tones are deposited into Loktak Lake. Thus the Lake has decreased 175 million cu. m. of water holding capacity during last ten years. The Nambul River which flows through the Imphal City has also brought in many polluting materials including hazardous plastics when it drains into the lake. If the present trend goes on continue, we would not be able to see our lovely Loktak Lake by 2030.

Therefore, if we do not do something right now, it will be too late for tomorrow. If we do not start our civic action immediately, then the lake will remain included in the Montreux Record forever and we will not be able to include our Loktak Lake in the lists of Worlds Heritage site.

I am the one to take care of my house, if I do not care of myself, then who will come to rescue us !