Wetlands Conservation in India: Types, Threats, Ramsar Sites
Why in the news
The Meghalaya High Court started a suo motu PIL to oversee wetland protection, bringing fresh attention to how fast these ecosystems are disappearing.
Key facts
- A wetland is land that stays soaked with water all year or for part of the year; it covers freshwater as well as marine and coastal systems.
- World Wetlands Day falls on 2 February, marking the 1971 opening of the Ramsar Convention for signature.
- Globally wetlands spread over 12.1 million km2, about 6% of the planet’s surface.
- India lists 75 Ramsar sites (around 1.33 million ha, stated as 8% of the country’s wetland area).
- Natural wetlands make up 66.6% of India’s wetlands: 43.9% inland and 22.7% coastal.
- India has lost 30% of its natural wetlands in four decades.
- Ramsar COP14 (2022) tied wetland protection to the SDGs, global biodiversity targets and climate frameworks.
Types of wetlands
| Type | Defining feature |
|---|---|
| Coastal wetlands | Lie between land and open sea; include shorelines, beaches, mangroves, coral reefs |
| Shallow lakes and ponds | Permanent or semi-permanent still water, e.g. vernal ponds, salt lakes, crater lakes |
| Marshes | Periodically flooded, non-woody plants dominate; tidal or non-tidal |
| Swamps | Covered by trees and shrubs; freshwater or saltwater floodplains |
| Bogs | Waterlogged peatlands in old lake basins; fed mainly by rain |
| Estuaries | Where rivers meet the sea; fresh and salt water mix; nutrient rich with high biodiversity |
Benefits
- Act as natural water filters.
- Reduce flooding and erosion.
- Shelter fish, birds and mammals.
- Store carbon and so help slow climate change.
- Support tourism, research and environmental education.
Threats
- Main drivers: urbanisation and industrialisation, plus conversion of land for farming and infrastructure.
- Losing wetlands raises water treatment costs for cities and worsens floods.
- Sea level rise and storm surges damage wetland systems.
- Worldwide: about 50% lost since 1900; 35% of area lost between 1970 and 2015; inland wetland species down 81% and coastal/marine species down 36%.
- Urban losses in India: Mumbai 71% (1970-2014), Kolkata East 36% (1991-2021), Chennai 85%.
- Wetlands deliver about 40.6% of global ecosystem services such as filtration and carbon storage. In Cali, Colombia, the lost services were valued at $76,827/ha a year in urban areas and $30,354/ha in peri-urban areas.
Way forward
- Look beyond ecology: factor in physical, social and economic aspects.
- Use an ecosystem-based approach built into development planning.
- Write wetland protection into climate policy, urban planning and water management.
- Monitor carefully, since wetlands can be both carbon sinks and carbon sources.
Exam angle
- Ramsar Convention opened for signature in 1971; World Wetlands Day is 2 February.
- Montreux Record: signals that a Ramsar wetland’s ecological character has changed or may change because of human interference (UPSC Prelims 2014).
- Mains 2018 asked about the Ramsar idea of ‘wise use’ and two Indian Ramsar sites.
- Bogs are rain fed; estuaries mix river and sea water.