Urgency of conserving wetlands stressed

Wetland ecosystems of the State are sources of cultural, economic and biological diversity and their conservation is critical for society to carry out sustainable development activities, according to experts.The two-day seminar on 'Coastal wetland ecosystems of Kerala: perspectives and conservational strategies' that began at the Sree Narayana College here on Thursday under the auspices of the college Department of Anthropology highlighted the urgency of creating more awareness on the urgency of conservation of the coastal wetland ecosystems considered to be one of the most important natural resources.The seminar sponsored by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and co-sponsored by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment was inaugurated by Kannur University Vice-Chancellor P. Chandramohan. In his keynote address on 'Wetlands: values, benefits and conservation', P.N. Unni of the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management, said that wetlands were ranked as the third most productive ecosystems of the world. If the wetlands were altered without taking into consideration their important ecological functions and values, the consequences could be drastic to the local communities who directly or indirectly depended on the wetlands for the livelihood, he said.Observing that alterations of any magnitude on certain wetlands might have very adverse impacts on wildlife and fish that migrate across international boundaries, Dr. Unni said that the wetlands were essential not only for hydrological and ecological processes but also for the rich fauna and flora they supported. The wetlands were also very frequently used as a source of water as they could act as storage for excess amounts of water during the rainfall or flooding, he said adding that it also prevented saline water intrusion.In his paper on 'the Status of mangroves in India', C. Kunhikannan of the Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Coimbatore, said that the mangrove ecosystems supported genetically diverse groups of aquatic and terrestrial organisms. He said that mangroves in the country accounted for five per cent of the world's mangrove vegetation. Mangroves had functioned as bio-shields to protect the coastlines during cyclone and tsunami, he said. K. Swaraupanandan of the Kerala Forest Research Institute in his paper on 'mangroves of Kerala' dwelt on the management options for conservation of mangrove ecosystems and its biodiversity.

The Hindu, 17^th October 2008