Declaring a wetland as a Ramsar site and fixating over the number of Ramsar sites in India is not the ideal way to conserve the country’s wetlands, member of Parliament and former Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh said on World Wetlands Day (February 2, 2025).
Instead, the emphasis should be on quality, scientific underpinning and local involvement as well as stewardship, said Ramesh.
He was speaking at an event organised by non-profit Wetlands International South Asia at the India International Centre in the national capital on the occasion of World Wetlands Day.
On February 2, 1971, the ‘Convention on Wetlands’ was signed in Ramsar, Iran as an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.
Since 1995, this day has been observed as ‘World Wetlands Day’ to raise awareness of the values wetlands provide to nature and society.
The 2025 theme — ‘Protecting Wetlands for Our Common Future’ — focused on the importance of wetlands for the future of the planet and all people.
“Wetlands have always been integral to India’s history. But Ramsar brought them into political focus. We have learnt a lot. We now know that five per cent of India’s area is under wetlands. We have also gained more knowledge about the types of wetlands — there are 20. Our scientific knowledge about them is far better today than it was 40 years ago. And in 2017, we also had the Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules,” said Ramesh.
Having said that, Ramesh pointed out that he had seen wetlands, including some very important ones across the country, under grave threat.
He cited the examples of Deepor Beel in Guwahati, Assam, Chilika lake in Odisha, Kolleru lake in Andhra Pradesh, the SACON campus in Coimbatore, and Kolkata.
According to the former minister, four grave and pressing threats face Indian wetlands.
The single biggest threat is from effluents and sewage, both industrial and human, flowing into wetlands. They are also under severe pressure from local municipalities.
“Thirdly, the idea of creating a Ramsar site is not to isolate it but make it something in which local communities can have a stake. Such communities are the greatest protectors of wetlands. Currently, a local grassroots system where communities can be involved is still to be developed,” said Ramesh. He added that scientific activities for wetlands are yet to be enhanced.
Other speakers at the event concurred.
“Wetlands in India are like everyone’s baby but no one mothers them well. Forty per cent of wetlands in India are privately owned. What are the incentives being given to such private owners to conserve them? Multiple agencies administer wetlands in India. That also brings problems. Things have to be demystified to people regarding the framework, strategies and action. Stakeholders such as communities have to be talked to and made to feel like they have a stake in saving these ecosystems,” Vishaish Uppal, director, Governance, Law & Policy at WWF-India, said.