Nudging government to conserve wetlands

The Supreme Court’s order on Wednesday to states to protect 30,000 additional wetlands, over the 2.01 lakh already being conserved under a 2017 order, is a timely intervention. The three-month deadline that the apex court has set for demarcation and ground-truthing of satellite data on these wetlands should prod governments into action in an area of conservation that receives scant attention. Ground-truthing efforts so far have been undertaken for less than half of the wetlands covered under the 2017 order, and demarcation of boundaries is complete for a minuscule fraction; this pool includes India’s 85 Ramsar sites or wetlands designated to be of international importance as per the 1971 convention. A deadline and high courts being directed to suo motu monitor the conservation of Ramsar sites might just help state administrations shake off lethargy.

These ecosystems are key functionaries in the hydrological cycle and are critical to the country’s biodiversity. They also play central roles in water storage, purification, flood and erosion mitigation, groundwater recharge, protecting against cyclones and saline ingress (along the coast), and even influencing microclimates. In many regions of the country, they support livelihoods for several communities.

The lack of State enthusiasm in protecting these, despite several policies, has allowed cities to encroach on them, and even swallow altogether them in places, which in turn has exacerbated problems of urban flooding and drainage. Elsewhere, much of it has been turned into agricultural fields or, in the worst case, garbage dumps. In our era defined by severe weather phenomena, the imperative to protect wetlands can’t be overstated.

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