Countries adopt India's wetland use resolution at Ramsar Cop15
'Taking the message of PM Shri @narendramodiji on #MissionLiFE forward, India's Resolution on 'Promoting Sustainable Lifestyles for the wise use of Wetlands' has been adopted at Ramsar CoP15 in Zimbabwe today. The maiden resolution of India received overwhelming support from Contracting Parties and International Organization Partners. 172 Countries and 6 International Organization Partners have thus joined hands in adopting the ethos of Mission LiFE in the conservation of their Wetlands,' he wrote on X.
On July 24, Yadav who was heading the Indian delegation at COP15 said in his address that India has 91 Ramsar Sites (1.36 million ha), which is the largest network in Asia and third largest globally. 'Over the past decade, we have expanded this network by 250 percent. For the first time, two Indian cities—Udaipur and Indore—have been accredited as Wetland Cities, showing our commitment to urban wetlands,' he said during his intervention on 'Strengthening Policy and Legal Frameworks by Mainstreaming Wetlands Conservation' at the High Level Ministerial Segment of COP15.
The Ramsar COP15 brings together 172 Contracting Parties, International Organisation Partners, scientific institutions, civil society, and community representatives to agree on work programme and budgetary arrangements for the next triennium and consider guidance on a range of ongoing and emerging environmental issues.
Last year, the environment ministry released 'Wetland Wise Use' --an implementation framework. Despite the centrality of the wise-use concept, vagueness remains in the meaning of the wise use term and its application in wetland management, the document acknowledged.
The wetland wise use concept focuses on ecological character; ecosystem approach and sustainable development. Ecosystem components and processes enable the wetland to provide ecosystem services. For example, wetland fisheries are supported by the ability of the ecosystem to serve as habitats for fish and human enterprise in terms of boats, nets, indigenous knowledge related to fishing, etc or support a diverse bird population. Wise use also recognises that management of wetlands should be decentralised. It also states that management should consider the views, values, and interests of local communities and other indigenous people, identifying them as essential stakeholders.
The wetlands shall be conserved and managed in accordance with the principle of 'wise use' as determined by the Wetlands Authority, the wetland rules state adding that a number of activities are prohibited in notified wetlands including: conversion for non-wetland uses including encroachment of any kind; setting up of any industry and expansion of existing industries; disposal of construction and demolition waste; poaching; discharge of effluents among others.
In 2017 when the rules replaced 2010 wetland rules several concerns were raised by environmentalists and legal experts who found that the new rules were a much diluted version that would make protection of wetlands even more difficult.
While the 2010 guidelines clearly categorised what is completely restricted and what is regulated, the new rules used vague terminologies such as 'wise use' of wetlands raising ambiguity about what activities are permitted and they delegated much of the responsibility of identification and notification of wetlands to the states and UTs.
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