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Conservation and sustainable management of wetlands in South Asia
SG2, AAD
Pokhara, Nepal
13 December 2023 to 15 December 2023
Agenda
Wetlands International South Asia (WISA) and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) are jointly organising a roundtable meeting of Ramsar national focal points of the South Asia region on the ‘Wise use of wetlands in South Asia through regional collaboration and exchange’.
The meeting aims to develop modalities for the operation of the Regional Platform for Wetlands Conservation and Wise Use in South Asia. The specific objectives are:
Sustainable development in South Asia is closely linked to the health of the region’s wetlands.These wetlands may have been the cradles of several of the region’s civilisations. Wetlands play an important role in ensuring water and food security, increasing resilience to climate change, supporting livelihoods and cultural identities, and securing habitats for different species of plants and animals. However, complex development dynamics, coupled with limited awareness on the contribution made by wetlands to societal wellbeing, has put tremendous pressure on wetlands. Wetlands continue to be degraded and lost due to conversion for alternate uses, fragmentation of hydrological regimes, pollution, species invasion, unsustainable tourism, overharvesting of resources and regional climate change.
South Asia’s burgeoning food and water insecurity calls for increased attention to the integrated management of wetlands. The region is home to nearly one-fourth of the world’s population, with just 3% and 5% of the world’s land area and renewable freshwater resources, respectively. Irrigated agriculture supplies 60-80% of the region’s staple food and accounts for over 90% of water use. Nearly three-fifths of the region’s irrigation water is sourced from groundwater tapped from its 25–27 million shallow tube wells. Water, once considered abundant, is becoming increasingly scarce, with rapid declines in per capita availability. Unsustainable extraction of groundwater has led to falling water tables in several regions. Also, the frequency of natural disasters in South Asia is increasingly showing an upward trend. According to the Global Risk Analysis Report, about half of the total South Asian population are at ‘relatively high mortality risk’ from natural disasters. Water-related disasters are the most destructive of all natural disasters, and it is likely that these will become more frequent and intense in the future. Many of the most devastating water-related disasters in the South Asian region have had their genesis in mismanaged wetlands, wherein irregular development has adversely impacted the inherent buffering capacity of these ecosystems. Infrastructure planning, historically adopted for agricultural development in the region, has proven to be counterproductive for natural ecosystems as wetlands. In a sectoral policy making environment, water requirements for ecosystems are seen as a competing demand in an ever-increasing gap in meeting the human demands for water. Continued degradation of wetlands makes the region more vulnerable to the trends.
The Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention within the South Asia region have committed to the wise use of wetlands and several guidelines including the programme on communication, education, participation, and awareness (CEPA) have been adopted for the purpose. However, the continued degradation of wetlands in South Asia indicates the practical challenges in the application of available guidance, as well as the need to tailor implementation approaches considering specific regional contexts. Regional homogeneities in the wetland regimes, their influencing drivers and pressures, policy environment, and capacities indicate possibilities of benefitting from regional collaboration and exchange while seeking outcomes from the wise use of wetlands. Restoration initiatives, as demonstrated in Chilika (India), Ghodaghodi (Nepal) and Tanguar Haor (Bangladesh), demonstrate the significance of community-driven and adaptive management of wetlands, as pathways for the realisation of the wise use principles in South Asia.
In 2018, Wetlands International South Asia convened a meeting of the Ramsar National Focal Points at the Ramsar COP 13 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, wherein the representatives of the national governments and international organisations concurred with the idea of developing a regional platform for wetlands managers of South Asia. This was followed by a regional meeting of the national focal points at International Water Management Institute (IWMI) headquarters in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2019, wherein the possible roles of the platform were identified. In 2022, a virtual training programme on wetlands and water management was organised by Wetlands International South Asia in collaboration with Ramsar Regional Centre – East Asia (RRC-EA). Subsequently in COP 14, at a side event on ‘Regional Collaboration for Wetlands Conservation and Wise Use in South Asia’ held on November 8, 2022, the national governments endorsed the need for a South Asia Regional Platform to enable capacity development, information exchange and sharing of best practices to address the complex development contexts in which the region’s wetlands are placed. It was also recommended that the platform enables bringing South Asia wetlands management issues, challenges, and innovative practices to regional and global platforms.
In its fifth Mid-term Action Plan (MTAP V) (2023–2026), ICIMOD has included high-altitude wetlands as an important subject within its Action Area on Restoring and Regenerating Landscapes (Action Area D). As an effort of knowledge generation, it plans to conduct mapping and rapid assessment of the management status of the important wetlands (mainly Ramsar Sites) and peatlands of the HKH region to advocate policy changes and increase investments from the member countries for the management of such areas and identify areas for regional collaboration.
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