Strategies for wetland conservation:a case study of kanwar wetland, Begusarai

Abstract

Management of wetlands has received insufficient attention in the national watersector agenda. As a result, many of the wetlands in urban and rural areas are subject to anthropogenic pressures. India is signatory to Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and has drafted Wetland (Conversation and Management) Rules in 2010 but still no significant improvement has been built on the conservation and wise use of wetlands. The main reason is that only selected number of wetlands has received notable attention (by way of fiscal and technical aid from the central government) under the wetland conservation program like National wetland conservation program (NWCP) and National lake conservation program (NLCP) while the remaining ones continue to be in abandoned state. Majority of research effort on wetland in India is associated with the limnological aspects and ecological/environmental economics of wetland management. But, the physical and socio-economic processes leading to limnological changes have not been inspecting substantially. It is necessary to investigate the Draft Wetlands Rules, 2016. The three major issues are of instant concern: Firstly, The draft does away with the Central Wetlands Regulatory Authority, which had suo moto perception of wetlands and their protection. Second, the draft rules hold no ecological criteria and indicators for recognizing wetlands, such as biodiversity, reefs, mangroves etc. And finally, it has deleted segment on the protection of wetlands, and interpretation of detrimental activities which require regulation, which found reference in the 2010 rules. Further, the institutional features of wetland management have received limited attention and attracted the imagination of research scholars only recently. Thus more research emphasis on the physical, socio-economic and institutional factors influencing condition of wetlands and their use is required in order to arrive at better and comprehensive management strategies for wetlands that are facing growing stress from a variety of anthropogenic and climatic factors. Efforts at engineering water systems are thus efforts at augmenting water supply rather than strengthening the capacities of ecological systems. What comprises a wetland is an important question that the Draft Rules leave unanswered. Wetlands not earn revenue, and marked as wastelands. While the Wetland Atlas of India says the country has approximately 1, 88,470 inland wetlands, mostly unidentified by the government. Hence The study has been conducted for the kanwar wetland in Begusarai to identify the pros and cons related to anthropogenic activity in and around the wetland.it is the one of the Asia‘s largest fresh water ox bow lake. It has been shrinking at an abnormally high rate despite being designated as wildlife sanctuary. It has reduced by 66 per cent since 2004 and only 30 per cent of the original coverage area is left, as recorded in 1984(Ghosh, 2004).The study attempt to investigate the existing issues and develop different strategies for the conservation.