Wetlands provide habitats for thousands of species of waterfowls, birds, amphibians and plants in different seasons.
While the world is fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, there is increasing recognition that healing from the pandemic is linked to the planet and to reset humanity’s relationship with nature, a ten-year global push to prevent, halt and reverse ecosystem degradation has been started under the aegis of the United Nations: UN decade on ecosystem restoration.
Reimagine, Recreate, Restore the key words to rebuild our ecosystems and out of these three, restoration is a most challenging global task. It entails restoring billions of hectares of land — an area larger than China or the United States to ensure that people have food, clean water, and employment. It entails rescuing plants and animals on the verge of extinction, from the highest peaks to the deepest depths of the ocean.
A pair of rudy shelducks at the Keoladeo National Park (Photo: Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha)
An immense variety of species of microbes, plants, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish and mammals are part of a wetland ecosystem. Climate, landscape shape (topology), geology and the movement and abundance of water help to determine the plants and animals that inhabit each wetland. Wetlands store carbon within their plant communities and soil instead of releasing it to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Thus wetlands help to moderate global climate conditions.
Just as forests are called the ‘lungs of the earth’, wetlands are the ‘kidneys’ that regulate water and filter waste from the landscape. They are known as the world's natural water filters and one of the most productive ecosystems on the planet as it recycles nutrients, purifies and provides drinking water, reduces flooding, recharges groundwater, provides fodder and fuel, facilitates aqua-culture, provides a habitat for wildlife, buffers the shoreline against erosion and offers avenues for recreation.
In India, there are 7.5 lakh wetlands in India according to the Union government publication National Wetland Atlas but these wetlands are one of the most threatened habitats of the world. They are considered as wastelands in our country which is pushing us towards an unperceived ecological crisis.
Painted storks at the Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary present a visual symphony (Photo: Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha)
The vanishing wetlands did nudge the government into action in 2018 and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change outlined threats to the wetlands and initiated a ten year plan “Visionary Perspective Plan (2020-2030)” for the conservation of avian diversity, their ecosystems, habitats and landscapes in the country. This is significant for a country like India, which is endowed with a rich diversity of wetlands – ranging from high altitude wetlands of Himalayas, floodplains of rivers like Ganga and Brahmaputra, lagoons and mangrove marshes on the coastline and reefs in the marine environments.
At present, India has the highest number in South East Asia – 42 designated wetlands situated in various states. The number of protected wetlands in India under Ramsar Conventions increased by 50% in just two year, taking the number of such sites of International importance from 27 in 2019 to 42 this year and the government has identified 130 wetlands in the country to be restored in the next five years. Some of the wetlands in India are Bhitarkanika Mangroves, Ashtamudi Wetland, Sundarban Wetland, Chilika Lake, Sambhar Lake, Loktak Lake, East Kolkata Wetlands, Nalsarovar, Keoladeo National Park, Kanwar Taal or Kabar Taal Lake, Vembanad-Kol Wetland, Tso Kar in Ladakh among others.
A painted stork foraging for food in the Keoladeo National Park (Photo: Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha)
The role of the wetlands is critical as a habitat for wildlife. They act as a refuge to thousands of migratory birds. Of the 1,317 species recorded in India, about 30% are migratory. Nearly 370 species of migratory birds visit various wetlands of India. Of these, 87 species are of high-conservation concern, including two critically endangered, five endangered and 13 vulnerable species.
According to experts, the wetlands provide the colonial birds of the region substantial floods to support large breeding events in floodplain wetlands. They include egrets, ibises, pelicans, cormorants, herons and many others.
A group of pelicans (Photo: Mrityunjoy Kumar Jha)
In winter, Indian wetlands welcome more than 1000 species of migratory birds, when the weather turns cold in several parts of Alaska and Siberia to such a degree that it proves to be unbearable for the avian world. Most importantly, it’s food and breeding, which entice most birds to migrate.
