· Traditionally viewed as a wasteland or breeding ground of disease, wetlands actually provide freshwater and food, and serve as nature’s shock absorber.
· Wetlands, critical for biodiversity, are disappearing rapidly, with recent estimates showing that 64% or more of the world’s wetlands have vanished since 1900.
· Major changes in land use for agriculture and grazing, water diversion for dams and canals and infrastructure development are considered to be some of the main causes of loss and degradation of wetlands.
· The Indian Sundarban met four of the nine criteria required for the status of ‘Wetland of International Importance’ — presence of rare species and threatened ecological communities, biological diversity, significant and representative fish and fish spawning ground and migration path.
· The Ramsar status will help to highlight conservation issues of the Sundarbans at the international level.
· The part of the Sundarban delta, which lies in Bangladesh, was accorded the status of a Ramsar site in 1992, and with Indian Sundarban getting it too, international cooperation between the two countries for the protection of this unique ecosystem will increase.
· This could lead to a better conservation strategy for flagship species such as the tiger and the northern river terrapin.
· While the Indian Sundarban is a biodiverse preserve, over four million people live on its northern and northwestern periphery, putting pressure on the ecosystem.
· Concerns have been raised about natural ecosystems being changed for cultivation of shrimp, crab, molluscs and fish.
· The Ramsar Information Sheet lists fishing and harvesting of aquatic resources as a “high impact” actual threat to the wetland.
· The other threats are from dredging, oil and gas drilling, logging and wood harvesting, hunting and collecting terrestrial animals.
· Salinity has been categorised as a medium and tourism as a low impact actual threat in the region.
· The wetland, along with anthropogenic pressures, is also vulnerable to climate change and requires better management and conservation practices.
Source : The Hindu
10.03.2019