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Explain the wetland ecosystem and the measures taken to conserve it.

Introduction:

Wetlands are marshy areas having static or flowing water. It also includes areas of marine water having depth not more than 6m. They are transitional zones between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Mangroves are an example of these ecosystem. In India majority are inland and few wetlands are coastal.

Body:

Wetlands are high-nutrient and low oxygen areas. They are characterized by hydrophytes. They provide large diversification due to presence of birds, fishes, and amphibians.

Importance:

• Serves migratory birds
• Sedimentation, purification of water
• Recycling of nutrients
• Tourism attraction
• Groundwater recharge
• Flood control

Reasons for depletion:

• Overgrazing
• Pollution
• Sand mining
• Deforestation
• Unscientific Fish farming
• Encroachment and unscientific farming

Measures taken:

Ramsar Convention: It is named after an Iranian city. There are 170 countries participating in this. It was signed on 2^nd Feb 1971. It is an international treaty for conservation and sustainable use of Wetlands.

In India, National Wetland Conservation Programme has been implemented since 1985-86. It provides assistance to the conservation and central government is the responsible co-ordination.

Conclusion:

Since wetlands are an important ecosystem, it needs to be conserved for sustainability. Human activities are the whole&sole reasons for depletion of such wetlands. The impact has been identified and measures are being taken but not with much success. Most of these campaigns fail due to lack of accountability. For example, in this case land usage comes under State/UT’s but the committee is headed by central government. With proper co-ordination the goals can be achieved.