Wetlands for Well-being

Preserving India’s Wetlands

Putting Wetlands on the Sustainability Agenda

A dialogue exploring challenges and collaborative solutions for safeguarding India’s wetlands, emphasizing their ecological importance, climate role, and need for participatory conservation.

Our Footprint

Reach

Engagement

Video views

The Idea

Wetlands serve as vital lifelines for our planet. Despite their crucial role in maintaining harmony between nature and humanity, they face numerous threats from human activities. Globally, the number and health of wetlands have declined significantly, with 35% disappearing since the 1970s and a staggering 87% lost since the 1700s. The remaining wetlands are disappearing at three times the rate of forests.

Urgent action is needed to protect and conserve these essential ecosystems, often referred to as the “kidneys of nature.” It is imperative to bring discussions on wetlands to the mainstream agenda.

Overview

The panel discussion addressed the challenges and solutions for protecting and conserving wetlands in India. Participants comprised individuals from diverse backgrounds, including civil society, policymakers, bureaucrats, academics, and college students from various institutions.

During the session, speakers emphasized the critical role of wetlands in maintaining ecosystem balance and climate stability, alongside their significance for human well-being. They addressed various challenges, including land ownership issues, deforestation, and the impacts of climate change on wetlands across different regions of India.

The session also highlighted the distinction between European and Indian wetland conservation models, with an emphasis on the participatory nature of Indian approaches. The importance of wetlands in water security, aquifer recharge, and the need for collaborative efforts between government and civil society for wetland rejuvenation were also underscored.