The World Wetlands Day

By M. Asnikunar Singh

The World Wetlands Day is celebrated ever year on 2nd February. The Convention on wetlands was adopted on 2 February , 1971 in Ramsar,Iran. The Ramsar Secretariat’s main objective is to raise public awareness about the importance and value of wetlands . This year’s theme is Wetlands and Climate change.The increasing demands and pressure on wetlands without understanding their nature and consequences have led to their rapid degradation. Keeping this day and its significance in mind , I would like to highlight the importance of our own Loktak Lake, the largest freshwater lake in northeast India. Due to its socio economic importance it is often considered as the “lifeline of Manipur “ and rightly so. It’s biological richness and uniqueness of habitat has resulted in its designation as a “Wetland of international importance “ under the Ramsar convention, a distinction it shares with just other five lakes of India. The LOKTAK lake and the area in its vicinity is one of the most important wetlands in the country.One often ignored statistic is that 60 percent of the catch fish of Manipur comes from the Loktak lake alone. It also plays a pivotal role in the socio economic life of the region. Sadly due to increasing pressure on the lake attributed to a rapid rise in population, the shifting cycle of the agricultural land in the hilly catchments of the lake has reduced from 20 to less than 5 years . This has further led to land degradation and increased soil erosion leading to sedimentation of water bodies consequently reducing its water holding and water carrying capacity. Such scientific analysis reveals the true picture i.e the lake’s future is in bad shape . It is not only the responsibility of the people living in the vicinity of the lake but also the citizens of the state to come together and works towards improving the lake’s bleak and uncertain future. Moreover our state’s pride, the Sangai shares an inseparable bond with the Loktak Lake. The issue of climate change is something which we have heard since the last two-three decades but it’s effect in our region has become visible since the last decade, we have started experiencing harsher summers and winters since the turn of the century. The task of wetlands restoration has become complicated in light of threefold increase in global water demand in the last 6 decades. Wetlands cover 6 percent of the world’s land surface and contain about 12 percent of global carbon pool thereby playing a vital role in the global carbon cycle. Under the current climate trends, there is a high change of spread of exotic species, which could increase pressure on watersheds and ecosystem.Moreover Climate Change affects the hydrology of wetland ecosystems through changes in precipitation and temperatures. It is of the utmost significance that the issue of climate change should be taken into account when implementing wetlands restoration projects and policy makers ought to promote wetlands restoration as part of climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. Cooperation,coordinatin is the need of the hour, if we are to save our own given treasure from fading into oblivion. After all, what good are we if we do not work towards a better future for our children?