Editorial: Dry state of wetlands

Earlier this month, in the backdrop of World Wetlands Day, it was announced that two bird sanctuaries in Tamil Nadu’s Ramanathapuram district, Sakkarakottai and Therthangal, have been designated as Ramsar sites. Ramanathapuram is also home to two other Ramsar sanctuaries, namely Chitrangudi and Kanjirankulam. The latest inclusion brings the total number of Ramsar sites in the state to 20, leading to TN retaining the status of having the highest number of such sites in India.

With 10 sites, Uttar Pradesh trails TN on the count of wetland-designated sites, which is granted under the Ramsar Convention. The treaty covers inland ecosystems such as marshes, lakes, rivers, and peatlands, as well as coastal habitats such as salt marshes, mangroves, mudflats, seagrass beds, and even coral reefs. The Ramsar recognition is aimed at protection and judicious use of fragile wetland ecosystems through recognition, local conservation efforts, funding, national policies and global cooperation.

Tamil Nadu received its first Ramsar designation over two decades ago in 2002, for the Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary. Last year, the Kazhuveli and Nanjarayan Bird Sanctuaries were granted recognition. Including the sites in TN, and coupled with Khecheopalri Wetland (Sikkim), and Udhwa Lake (Jharkhand), India added four new Ramsar sites last week, bringing our total to 89, which is the highest in Asia and the third highest in the world. Between 2014 and 2025, as many as 63 Ramsar sites have been recognised across India, compared to the 26 sites added to the list between 1982 and 2013. India's Ramsar sites include the Chilika Lake in Odisha, Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan, mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, the high-altitude lakes of Tso Moriri and Pangong Tso in Ladakh.

While the recognition of sites is encouraging, there are problems plaguing the wetland ecosystem. Per the Ramsar Convention’s Global Wetland Outlook (2018), 35% of global wetlands had disappeared between 1970 and 2015, mainly due to human-induced factors. These include unsustainable development, due to which 87% of the world’s wetlands made way for land use for housing, industry and agriculture, over the last 300 years. Pollution through the release of untreated wastewater into wetlands is another pain point. The vulnerability to invasive species, and the fallout of climate change also pose existential threats to wetlands.

Here in India, it was reported last month that several water bodies in Rajasthan continued to shrink due to ambiguity over demarcation of boundaries. These resources were subject to encroachment through altering of their original boundaries as well as permitting construction and encroachment in eco-sensitive zones. Activists pointed out how in Udaipur, the Pichola lake, originally 6.5 sq km in area, shrunk to 4.5 sq km after demarcation. A similar fate awaited the Fateh Sagar lake, originally 4.5 sq km, but reduced to 2.8 sq km after demarcation. The irony is compounded when you consider that it was just recently that Udaipur and Indore became the first two Indian cities to be accredited as wetland cities under the Ramsar Convention. This accreditation was in recognition of their efforts to conserve wetlands and balance urban development with ecological preservation.

Last year, the Supreme Court had passed an order asking wetland authorities in all states to complete the process of ground truthing (visiting the site where water bodies are mapped and verify their existence) and demarcation of wetland boundaries within three months. One only hopes that the directive is carried out in letter and spirit, devoid of political or industrial influence.