nilgiri

HILL WETLANDS: CONSERVATION STRATEGY & ACTION PLAN

The future roadmap for the conservation of wetlands is now and needs to be taken up with serious and utmost urgency... The people of Nilgiris spoke, debated, argued and agreed upon these ideas for the preservation of wetlands..

CONSERVATION & LIVELIHOODS

1.Livelihood & Conservation cannot be separated. It has to go hand-in-hand
2.Identify the traditional dependency of Rural and / or Urban inhabitants on wetland ecosystems to address issues
3.Revival of traditional source management through community participation.
4.Protection and restoration of identified and sensitive wetlands through community participation and eco-tourism
5.User beneficiaries should contribute for source management
6.Enforce the existing local laws for proper sanitation, sewage and solid waste management and monitor the status.
7.Innovative institutional mechanisms for proper management of wetland and surroundings. For example - Wetlands - tea estates & wetlands – vegetable cultivation- responsibilities for protecting sources.
8.Regulating the usage of quantity of water drawn from wetlands for agricultural purposes.
9.The lessees normally don’t take initiative for the wetland conservation so the leased land owner and lessee can be brought under the community control.
10.TWAD Board’s initiative (Total Community Water Management) has to be encouraged with the community with participation from local NGOs.

POLICY, LEGAL & INSTITUTIONS

1.Definition for different types of wetlands in the Nilgiris according to agro-climatic zones. Identification and delineation of wetlands
2.Identification of existing policies and analyze them with respect to wetlands.
3.Ownership – complete or partial under Forest / Wildlife Act or Biodiversity Act.
4.Joint management of wetlands by communities and Government.
5.Encroachments should be dealt with legally
6.In protected areas / Reserve Forests there is a need for a wetland ecosystem management plan or form a policy for wetlands inside protected areas.
7.Scientifically well-balanced agriculture policy in areas near wetlands to reduce siltation and to minimize pollution level due to agrochemicals.
8.Regulation of diversion of water from wetlands
9.Afforestation and protection of native spp. In/around the wetlands.

Wetland Inventory Assessment and Monitoring

1.Development of database on hill wetlands
2.Assessment: Define and classify wetlands in the Nilgiris
a.Inventorization and Monitoring of different types of wetlands in the district ( Suggested parameters: Season wise, Land use pattern on catchment area, Biological Magnification,Biodiversity inventory (Indicator Taxa), Plants, Insects, Amphibians, Birds, Abiotic components, Soil physico-chemico parameters, Water quality etc, Temporal Change in different types of wetlands, Land use-mapping
4.Traditional ecological knowledge and biodiversity register
5.Cost Benefit analysis of the wetland watersheds
6.Hydrological impact of different types of wetlands under different catchment characteristics
7.Development of effective outreach programs to highlight the issues and strategies for wetland protection and conservation
8.Wetlands tour for awareness and sensitization

All the above will be collected using the following tools
Questionnaire based surveys
Field surveys conducted by the organization
Enhancing capacity building by disseminating information
Generation of GIS database
Information collated from partner organizations – climate, geology, land use, Biological data

Output:
Electronic databases
Posters
Brochures
Reports
Press release
Articles in peer reviewed journals
Interaction meeting among stakeholder

Do’s
1.Wetlands in Nilgiris are small in size and tend to be ignored. They should be mapped and protected and their role understood by the users.
2.Document biodiversity species that are found in and around the wetland
3.Hill wetlands importance should be highlighted to agencies such as the Hill Area Development Programme
4.Wetland hill areas should be given a special status in Nilgiris.
5.Protect and conserve wetland through scientific management of catchment area and vegetation
Don’ts
6.Draining, land filling, changing landuse or polluting the wetlands should be totally avoided.
7.Wetlands should not be considered as waste lands to be encroached.

Posted by: keystone Category: NHW Home > Wetlands Updated: 2007-03-07 03:22:58