Need to save wetlands stressed

Interests of communities dependent on wetlands should be protected
while implementing wetland-conservation programmes, S. Kaul, Director,
Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, said here on Saturday. He
was inaugurating a seminar on 'Wetlands — a threatened landscape'
organised by the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management
(CWRDM) at Kunnamangalam on Saturday. Dr. Kaul said that measures to
protect interests of communities were essential for the success of
wetland conservation programmes. He underlined the need for
capacity-building measures for stakeholders under wetland programmes
as these were necessary to sensitise the people to the values and
functions of wetlands and involve policymakers and planners in the
decision-making process. The Ministry had been doing this by
organising seminars and workshops across the country. He said wetlands
were being threatened by reclamation, drainage, landfills and
overexploitation of nature. Dr. Kaul was critical of research on
wetland conservation that would not supplement action plans and were
repetitive in nature.K.V. Jayakumar, Executive Director, CWRDM, and
other speakers at the seminar spoke of the many activities under way
in the State for conservation and management of wetlands. Such
programmes were being implemented by the CWRDM at Sasthamcotta and
Ashtamudi with the support of the Ministry, the departments of
agriculture, forests, irrigation and soil conservation and the Kerala
Water Authority. A State Wetland Cell headed by the Chief Secretary
had been formed.
The Hindu, July 5