Sanjeev Sharma - Wetlands Conservation: Current Challenges and Future Strategies

1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 4
4. Chapter 5
5. Chapter 7
6. Chapter 8
7. Chapter 9
8. Chapter 10
9. Chapter 11
10. Chapter 12

1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 10
10. Chapter 11
11. Chapter 12
12. Chapter 13

Edited by

Sanjeev Sharma

Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

Pardeep Singh

PGDAV College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

This edition first published 2022
2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

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Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Names: Sharma, Sanjeev (Assistant professor in environmental sciences), editor. | Singh, Pardeep, editor.
Title: Wetlands conservation : Current challenges and future strategies / edited by Sanjeev Sharma, Pardeep Singh.
Description: Hoboken, NJ : WileyBlackwell, 2022.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021008931 (print) | LCCN 2021008932 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119692683 (hardback) | ISBN 9781119692669 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119696322 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Wetlands conservation.
Classification: LCC QH75 .W4656 2022 (print) | LCC QH75 (ebook) | DDC 333.91/8dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021008931
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021008932

Cover Design: Wiley
Photograph: Chandertal Lake, Ramsar Wetland located in LahaulSpiti District, Himachal PradeshIndia
Photo Credit: Sanjeev Sharma

Wetlands are critical natural resources and most productive ecosystems on earth. They are rich in terrestrial as well as aquatic flora and fauna. Wetlands hold significance for biodiversity, water conservation and ecosystem services. The critical ecosystems of wetlands support livelihoods and form a lifeline for billions of people living within wetlands and in their periphery. Majority of the global population is directly and indirectly dependent on these wetlands for drinking water, irrigation and other essential natural ecosystem services. Wetlands are known to provide habitats to as much as 20% of the planets various life forms. Wetlands form habitats for endangered and threatened species of wildlife, aquatic flora and fauna. The wetlands are also feeding, breeding and resting areas for a host of migratory birds which travel vast distances over many continents and across different geographical zones and biomes. Wetlands are referred to as biological supermarkets and kidneys and lungs of the landscapes where they exist due to their ecological interface with the hydrological, chemical and biological cycles.

Many wetlands are a direct source of drinking water and many rivers also originate from wetlands. Wetlands have supported human existence since antiquity. The nomadic populations across the globe have settled nearby these wetlands since ancient times as wetlands provided ample pastures for livestock rearing. Wetlands have social, economic and cultural significance for human beings. For example, in the Himalayan region of India wetlands have socioreligious and cultural importance for the inhabitants. People of these regions worship the wetlands and consider these water bodies as sacred. Since 1900, around half of the worlds wetlands have disappeared due to exploitation of natural resources by human beings in the wetlands. Intense human activities in the wetlands have led to degradation and loss of these areas. In addition to anthropogenic pressures, climate change, land use patterns, land cover change, urbanisation, global warming modern agricultural practices etc. have affected the wetland system adversely, across the globe. Preservation and restoration of wetlands will help to conserve these bodies and will also lead to upholding the social, cultural, economic and religious significance of the wetlands. Wetlands hold immense significance in controlling and mitigating floods. For example mangrove wetlands reduce wave energy and thus protect coastal communities from floods etc. Through the process of nitrogen recycling, these wetlands help in improving the downstream water quality. They also help in climate change mitigation and adaptation.