India and Wise Use Policy
Based on the above guidelines, India has taken a number of steps in the direction of conserving wetlands. Some of them are:
1. Policies, Laws and Institutions
a. National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Systems is launched for comprehensive conservation of wetlands and lakes, so as to get the desired quality of water along with conservation of biodiversity.
b. Wetlands Conservation and Management Rules, 2017 establishes the National Wetland Committee (for monitoring implementation of rules and recommending policy actions including the declaration of wetlands as Ramsar sites) and State Wetlands Authority (for regulating and permitting activities within a notified wetland).
c. Centre for Wetland Conservation and Management (CWCM) was launched on 2nd February, 2021 to address knowledge gaps and specific research needs.
2. Inventory management and monitoring
a. Formulation of a toolkit under National Mission for Clean Ganga in January 2021 for management of water bodies and wetlands in urban areas.
b. On World Wetland Day 2021, a health card of 10 wetlands covering more than 50 Ganga cities was released to help monitor and manage the ground level situation
c. National Wetland Inventory and Assessment done by ISRO has mapped more than 2 lakh wetlands across the country with the help of remote sensing satellites.
Wetlands and Wise Use Principle of the Ramsar Convention
Wetlands are distinct ecosystems, that are flooded either permanently or temporarily resulting in an anoxic (oxygen-free) environment and hydric soils. These may be considered as ecotones, providing a transition between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. These are characterized by the hydric soils and hydrophytes (aquatic plants) adapted to wetland conditions.
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