Government Notified Rules for Wetland Conservation

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest notified the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010, on 2nd December 2010 for conservation and management of wetlands and to stop their degradation. The Wetlands Rules, 2010, ban activities like industrialisation, construction and dumping of untreated waste near wetlands.

The government set up the wetland regulatory authority and appraisal committee at the district, state and central levels to ensure the proper implementation of the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules.

The Indian government gave many reasons for wetlands degradation which included discharge of industrial effluents, pesticides, fertilisers and over exploitation for fisheries in wetland areas.
At present there are 25 wetlands in India. Wetlands are important for several development activities including agriculture. Moreover, people depend on wetland for food, livelihood, irrigation and drinking water.

Important Information
India is a signatory to the Ramsor Convention for the conservation of wetlands. Wetland is an area of land whose soil is wet with moisture. Wetlands include both natural wetlands like rivers, lakes, coral reefs and man-made wetlands like farm ponds, canals and irrigated agricultural lands. Wetlands are considered the most biologically diverse ecosystems which are host to several animal and plant lives.

The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty on conservation of wetlands. Ramsar convention was adopted at Ramsar on 2nd February, 1971 and it came into force in December, 1975. Ramsar is a town in Iran.