India’s first Centre For Wetland Conservation And Management :
The Central government has announced that, it will soon set up a new Centre for Wetland Conservation and Management (CWCM) in Chennai.
- This Centre for Wetland Conservation and Management will be set in a bid to address the knowledge gaps and specific research needs for the conservation and management of wetlands.
- The Centre for Wetland Conservation and Management (CWCM) will be set up by the central government in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
- This conservation centre would be a part of the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management.
- This national centre is an institution under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
- The CWCM will play a significant role to design and implement the regulatory frameworks and policies.
- It will also help in monitoring, management planning and targeted research in a bid to conserve the wetlands.
- The conservation centre will also act as a knowledge hub.
- It will enable the exchange between the wetland authorities in States or Union Territories, managers, wetland researchers, practitioners, policy-makers and users.
- The centre will further help in building networks and partnerships with the relevant international and national agencies.
Wetland :
- It is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded by water.
- They are flooded either permanently or seasonally. In such ecosystems, oxygen-free processes prevail.
- Wetlands help in water purification, water storage, processing of carbon and the stabilization of shorelines.
- It also provides support to plants and animals.
- They are the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems.
- They occur naturally on every continent and the water in the can be either freshwater, brackish, or saltwater.
- India has 42 Ramsar sites that have been designated as Wetlands of International Importance. They cover around 4.6% of the Indian landmass.
