Wetlands

Wetlands are regions present at transitional zone between terrestrial and aquatic eco-systems and characterized by waterlogged soils with a unique plant and animal community. In this article, you will learn definition, types, and Ramsar Convention for Wetlands, etc.

This article will provide key insights for GS Paper–III of Environment and ecology section of UPSC IAS Exam.

Table of Content

• What are Wetlands?
• Types of Wetlands             
• Importance of Wetlands
• Challenges to the Wetlands
• Ramsar Wetlands in India
• Efforts of Indian government to conserve Wetlands
• International efforts to conserve Wetlands
• Conclusion
• Frequently Asked Questions

What are Wetlands?

• Meaning: Wetlands are regions that are transitional zone between terrestrial and aquatic eco-systems and characterized by waterlogged soils with a unique plant and animal community.
• Characteristics of wetland ecosystem: it occurs where the water table is at or near the surface of the land, or where the land is covered by water.
• The World wetland day is celebrated on the 2^nd February annually.
• Types: Coastal Wetlands; Shallow lakes and ponds; Marshes; Swamps; Bogs and Estuaries

Types of Wetlands:

• Coastal Wetlands: They are found in the transition area between the land and the opensea.
  • They are not much influenced by rivers.
  • Examples: shorelines, beaches, mangroves, and coral reefs.
• Shallow lakes and ponds: They are areas of permanent or semi-permanent water body with almost stagnant water.
  • They include vernal ponds, spring pools, salt lakes and volcanic crater lakes.
• Marsh wetlands: They are wetlands that are periodically saturated, or flooded with water.
  • They have herbaceous (non-woody) vegetation that is adapted to wet soil conditions.
  • They are further classified as tidal marshes and non-tidal marshes.
• Bogwetland: They are wetlands that are characterized by the accumulation of peat.
  • Peat is a type of soil that is made up of partially decomposed plant material.
  • They are typically found in areas that are poorly drained, such as old lake basins or depressions in the landscape.
• Estuaries: They are area where rivers meet the sea.
  • The water in estuaries is a mixture of fresh water from the river and salt water from the sea.
  • This mixing of water creates a unique environment that is rich in biodversity.
  • These wetlands include deltas, tidal mudflats and salt marshes.
• Constructed wetlands: They are an artificial wetland to treat sewage, greywater, stormwater runoff or for land reclamation after mining, or to regrow natural resources lost during land development. 

Importance of Wetlands:

• Water Quality: Wetlands act as natural water filters, removing pollutants and sediments from runoff water.
  • This helps to improve water quality for drinking, fishing, and swimming.
• Reduction of Coastal Storm Damage: Wetlands can help to reduce the impact of coastal storms by absorbing wave energy and slowing down storm surge.
  • This can help to protect coastal communities from flooding and erosion.
• Flood Control and Streamflow Maintenance: Wetlands can help to control flooding by storingfloodwaters during storms.
  • This helps to reduce downstream flooding and damage.
  • Wetlands can also help to maintain streamflow during dry periods by slowly releasing stored water back into rivers and streams.
• Streambank Stabilization and Erosion Control: It helps to stabilizestreambanks and prevent erosion.
  • This helps to protect rivers and streams from damage and keeps them healthy.
• Wildlife Habitat: Wetlands provide habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, including amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and fish.
  • Wetlands are important for migratory birds, as they provide food and shelter during their long journeys.
  • Example: The Indian Cormorant, sandpipers, plovers etc.
  • Examples of wetland animals: snakes, alligators, turtles, newts and salamanders etc
• Fish and Shellfish Habitat: Wetlands are also important habitat for fish and shellfish.
  • They provide food, cover, and spawning grounds for many species of fish and shellfish.
• Habitat for Threatened and Endangered Species: Wetlands are also important habitat for threatened and endangered species.
• Specialized Plant Habitat: Many of the plants can only survive in these wet environments.
  • Example: orchids, lilies, and cattails.
• Wetland ecosystem Productivity: Some wetland types are among the most productiveecosystems on earth.
  • Example: a stand of cordgrass in a salt marsh can produce more plant material and store more energy per acre than any agricultural crop except cultivated sugar cane.
  • Nutrients and plant material flushed from some wetland systems during storms provide essential food for plants, fish, and wildlife in estuaries and other downstream ecosystems.
• Recreational Opportunities: They are beautiful places for sightseeing, hiking, fishing, hunting, boating, bird watching, and photography, swimming, canoeing, and kayaking.
• Role of wetlands in ecosystem also includes clean, plentiful water supplies.

Challenges to the Wetlands:

• Industrial activities: Wetlands can be drained to make way for industrial sites.
  • Also, industrial waste can be dumped into wetlands, which can pollute the water and harm the plants and animals that live there.
• Tourism: Wetlands can be drained to make way for tourist facilities, such as hotels or camping sites.
  • Tourists damage wetlands by trampling on plants and animals, or by littering.
• Agricultural activities: Wetlands can be drained to make way for farmland.
  • Also, agricultural runoff can pollute wetlands, which can harm the plants and animals that live there.
• Pollution: Drainage and runoff from fertilized crops and pesticides used in agriculture introduce nitrogen and phosphorous nutrients and other toxins like mercury to water sources.
  • These chemicals can affect the health and reproduction of species, posing a serious threat to biological diversity.
• Climate change: Increase in temperature is causing polar ice to melt and sea level to rise.
  • This leads to shallow wetlands being submerged and some species of mangrove trees being submerged and drowned.
  • Some wetlands such as estuaries, floodplains, and marshes are being destroyed through drought.
• Dams: can block the migration of fish and other aquatic animals, and they can also change the flow of water and sediment, which can damage wetlands.
• Invasive species: Such as water hyacinths, Nile perch and clay fish competes with local biodiversity and replaces them.

Ramsar Wetlands in India:

• There is total 75 Ramsar wetland sites in India covering an area of 13,26,677 ha in the country.

List of wetlands in India:

S. No.	State Location	Name of Site	Date of Declaration
1	Andhra Pradesh	Kolleru Lake	19.8.2002
2	Assam	Deepor Beel	19.8.2002
3	Bihar	Kabartal Wetland	21.07.2020
4	Goa	Nanda Lake	06.08.2022
5	Gujarat	Khijadia Wildlife Sanctuary	13.04.2021
6	Gujarat	Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary	24.09.2012
7	Gujarat	Thol Lake Wildlife Sanctuary	05.04.2021
8	Gujarat	Wadhvana Wetland	05.04.2021
9	Haryana	Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary	25.05.2021
10	Haryana	Sultanpur National Park	25.05.2021
11	Himachal Pradesh	Chandertal Wetland	8.11.2005
12	Himachal Pradesh	Pong Dam Lake	19.8.2002
13	Himachal Pradesh	Renuka Wetland	8.11.2005
14	Jammu and Kashmir	Hokera Wetland	8.11.2005
15	Jammu and Kashmir	Hygam Wetland Conservation Reserve	13.08.2022
16	Jammu and Kashmir	Shallbugh Wetland Conservation Reserve	13.08.2022
17	Jammu and Kashmir	Surinsar-Mansar Lakes	8.11.2005
18	Jammu and Kashmir	Wular Lake	23.3.1990
19	Karnataka	Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary	15.02.2022
20	Kerala	Ashtamudi Wetland	19.8.2002
21	Kerala	Sasthamkotta Lake	19.8.2002
22	Kerala	Vembanad Kol Wetland	19.8.2002
23	Ladakh	Tso Kar Wetland Complex	17.11.2020
24	Ladakh	Tsomoriri Lake	19.8.2002
25	Madhya Pradesh	Bhoj Wetlands	19.8.2002
26	Madhya Pradesh	Sakhya Sagar	01.07.2022
27	Madhya Pradesh	Sirpur Wetland	01.07.2022
28	Madhya Pradesh	Yashwant Sagar	13.08.2022
29	Maharashtra	Lonar Lake	22.7.2020
30	Maharashtra	Nandur Madhameshwar	21.6.2019
31	Maharashtra	Thane Creek	13.08.2022
32	Manipur	Loktak Lake	23.3.1990
33	Mizoram	Pala Wetland	31.08.2021
34	Odisha	Ansupa Lake	13.08.2022
35	Odisha	Bhitarkanika Mangroves	19.8.2002
36	Odisha	Chilka Lake	1.10.1981
37	Odisha	Hirakud Reservoir	13.08.2022
38	Odisha	Satkosia Gorge	10.12.2021
39	Odisha	Tampara Lake	13.08.2022
40	Punjab	Beas Conservation Reserve	26.9.2019
41	Punjab	Harike Lake	23.3.1990
42	Punjab	Kanjli Lake	22.1.2002
43	Punjab	Keshopur-Miani Community Reserve	26.9.2019
44	Punjab	Nangal Wildlife Sanctuary	26.9.2019
45	Punjab	Ropar Lake	22.1.2002
46	Rajasthan	Keoladeo Ghana NP	1.10.1981
47	Rajasthan	Sambhar Lake	23.3.1990
48	Tamil Nadu	Chitrangudi Bird Sanctuary	13.08.2022
49	Tamil Nadu	Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve	04.08.2022
50	Tamil Nadu	Kanjirankulam Bird Sanctuary	13.08.2022
51	Tamil Nadu	Karikili Bird Sanctuary	04.08.2022
52	Tamil Nadu	Koonthankulam Bird Sanctuary	11.08.2021
53	Tamil Nadu	Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest	04.08.2022
54	Tamil Nadu	Pichavaram Mangrove	04.08.2022
55	Tamil Nadu	Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary	19.8.2002
56	Tamil Nadu	Suchindram Theroor Wetland Complex	13.08.2022
57	Tamil Nadu	Udhayamarthandapuram Bird Sanctuary	04.08.2022
58	Tamil Nadu	Vaduvur Bird Sanctuary	13.08.2022
59	Tamil Nadu	Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary	04.08.2022
60	Tamil Nadu	Vellode Bird Sanctuary	04.08.2022
61	Tamil Nadu	Vembannur Wetland Complex	04.08.2022
62	Tripura	Rudrasagar Lake	8.11.2005
63	Uttar Pradesh	Bakhira Wildlife Sanctuary	29.06.2021
64	Uttar Pradesh	Haiderpur Wetland	8.12.2021
65	Uttar Pradesh	Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary	19.9.2019
66	Uttar Pradesh	Parvati Agra Bird Sanctuary	2.12.2019
67	Uttar Pradesh	Saman Bird Sanctuary	2.12.2019
68	Uttar Pradesh	Samaspur Bird Sanctuary	3.10.2019
69	Uttar Pradesh	Sandi Bird Sanctuary	26.9.2019
70	Uttar Pradesh	Sarsai Nawar Jheel	19.9.2019
71	Uttar Pradesh	Sur Sarovar	21.8.2020
72	Uttar Pradesh	Upper Ganga River	8.11.2005
73	Uttarakhand	Asan Conservation Reserve	21.7.2020
74	West Bengal	East Calcutta Wetlands	19.8.2002
75	West Bengal	Sunderbans Wetland	30.1.2019

Efforts of Indian government to conserve Wetlands:

• The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017: It was created as a National Wetland Committee, and state-level bodies which has an advisory role for policies formulation and suggest measures to be taken for conservation.
• National Wetland Conservation Programme (NWCP) It was introduced in 1985 for the better conservation of wetlands in India.
• The National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems (NPCA): for holistic conservation of both lakes and wetlands.
• Space-based observation of Indian Wetlands: It was launched by ISRO as an atlas that maps India’s wetlands.
• National wetland-mapping project: It was a project for an integrated approach on conservation.
• Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes (MISHTI scheme): It aims for conservation of Mangroves, a type of wetland.

International efforts to conserve Wetlands:

• Ramsar Conventionon wetlands: It designates suitable wetlands for the list of Wetlands of International Importance and ensure their effective management including by providing funds.
  • The Ramsar Convention on wetlands came in to force in 1975.
  • India is a signatory to it.
• Montreux Record: Itis a list of wetland sites that have experienced, are experiencing, or are likely to experience changes in ecological character due to human interference which can threaten the wetlands.
  • Sites on the Montreux Record are eligible to receive technical and financial assistance from the Ramsar Convention.
  • India is a signatory to it.

Conclusion

The jurisdiction of wetlands is scattered and falls under various departments, such as agriculture, fisheries, irrigation, revenue, tourism, water resources, and local bodies. The wetland restoration under a unified government ministry or department is a key to enhance area covered under wetlands.

Ref: Source-1

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Mangrove Forests in India	Ecological Succession

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