By Salam Rajesh
In any conversation on wetland management and conservation across India, one of the priority deliberations is the current state of affairs of many of the vital inland freshwater wetlands in the country, and so is the case for several sensitive marine hotspots.
Across the country there are several wetlands that are always in the news for the wrong reasons. Dal Lake, Deepor Bheel, Loktak Lake, Chilika Lake, several wetlands in Karnataka (particularly in and around Bengaluru) and in Tamil Nadu – all are plagued by some ill or the other.
Human intervention in the negative sense tops the list of the ills that plagues these wetlands, much of which are vital for human needs, for the wildlife, and for sustaining ecosystems with multiple end benefits from their ecosystem services including climate regulation.
In the Northeast, Deepor Bheel in Assam and Loktak Lake in Manipur – both Ramsar sites of international importance – are pictured as wetlands kicking in their throes to stay alive and healthy.
One can name everything from physical modifications, human encroachments, pollution, siltation, eutrophication, invasion by invasive species, biodiversity erosion and species decline – abject abuses that these wetlands have endured for decades.
In Manipur, Loktak Lake is the picture of absolute neglect since these past four to five decades, more specifically after the Ithai Barrage for the 105 megawatt capacity Loktak Hydroelectric Power Project became functional by mid 1983.
Every known issues with wetlands can be seen within the Loktak wetland complex, comprising of the wetlands Pumlen Pat, Kharung Pat, Ikop Pat, and Khoidum-Lamjao Pat aside of Loktak Pat. Human intervention in the most negative ways plagues these wetlands.
For Loktak, the main issue is the failure of the State administration to define its actual (physical) boundary to this day. There has been countless occasions when deliberation on this issue was discussed, but without any tangible result as of now.
This has an end result, which is confusion on the exact area size of the wetland. Some say 289 sq km, some say 287 sq km, some say 266 sq km, and others say 236.5 sq km, perhaps ultimately downsizing to 110 sq km only (70 sq km for the water body + 40 sq km for Keibul Lamjao National Park), slowly squeezing its area size year after year.
In the absence of a fixed, delineated lake boundary, one of the observed issues is the steady physical encroachment by locals, and others, into the wetland area. Causeways have been built across Loktak, cutting off parts of the wetland from one another, and giving room for reclamation for agricultural and other low-scale commercial activities.
The northern sector and the central sector of Loktak Lake has for all practical reasons been split apart by the man-made causeway connecting Toubul village in Bishnupur District with Mayang Imphal town in Imphal West District. The causeway blocks water flow and the subsequent stagnation induces takeover by aquatic and semi-aquatic plants and weeds, finally losing open water body.
This causeway is largely seen as accelerating invasion by humans into the wetland area, literally converting around 53 sq km of wetland area defined as its northern sector by reclaiming for various activities including fish farms, low scale resorts and other commercial ventures, and with steady signs of incursion of hamlets for human settlement.
The other pervasive issue is again the failure of the lake managers to control the increasing invasion by several invasive alien species of aquatic, semi-aquatic and semi-terrestrial plants, and weeds, which are now creating havoc within the lake.
To add to this dimension of worry, the example of government agencies in ranching (releasing) of exotic Asian carps into the wetland and its associated river system without valid scientific reasoning is further deteriorating the biological diversity and ecosystem of the wetland.
Loktak is now plagued by invasive fish species like Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Tilapia (both Oreochromis mossambicus and Oreochromis niloticus), both species again being identified by the National Biodiversity Authority of India in 2022 as ‘nuisance’ fish species in the country. The NBA had proposed removing these fishes totally by manual means throughout the country by the target year 2030.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Invasive Species Specialist Group in 2000 identified Cyprinus carpio (Common carp/Puklaobi), Oreochromis mossambicus (Tilapia/Tunghanbi) and Clarias batrachus (Freshwater catfish/Ngakra) amongst the 100 worst invasive alien species of fishes in the world, with an equal tag on Pontederia (Eichhornia) crassipes (Water hyacinth/Kabo-kang) amongst the worst water plant IAS!
Yet another issue is the non-identification of traditional fishers from the new entrants (read as unauthorized occupiers) into the wetland area, thus creating room for further human intrusion, and conflict, in the wetland for different fishery activities other than the traditional capture fishery.
The State administration is yet to provide legal protection to Loktak’s traditional fishers, in terms of their rights and privileges as part of the wetland system for years altogether. The only safety net is an in-principle proviso for the fisher families of Champu Khangpok Floating Island Village within the lake as part of the lake system, and not alien to it. This is aligned to an understanding with the Bishnupur District Administration.
Unregulated Athaphum culture, caged and penned fishery had mushroomed in recent years within the Loktak core and buffer zone area, demonstrating the failure of the lake managers to control and check undesired activities within the lake area.
A recent controversy was the mushrooming of unauthorized floating homestays in the core zone area of the lake, as defined by the Manipur Loktak Lake (Protection) Act, 2006, and now within the scrutiny of the High Court of Manipur.
The issue is around the question of hygiene and impact on the ecosystem, besides potential for disturbing the migratory waterbirds in their winter sojourn from October up to February.
On Saturday (03 October) last week the State administration held a meeting to discuss issues of Loktak wetland complex, whereas, this was the typical top-down model of dialogue without the participation of other primary stakeholders, particularly the representatives of local communities – fishers, farmers, local self governing bodies, and civil societies directly relevant to the concerns on the wetland.
Many a times, deliberations on the short and long term strategies of Loktak Lake management had revolved around the issue of whether the State administration takes into confidence the grassroots stakeholders in the larger strategy of local community participation as co-partners in wetland management and conservation.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (2022) under the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) had laid much stress on local community-State partnership in managing wetlands as model of successful co-partnership in conservation.
This thinking process deviates exceptionally from the earlier ‘fortress’ conservation model that keeps off people from participating in conservation strategies, by defining core zone, buffer zone, zone of influence, eco-sensitive zone, etc for the protected areas (PAs).
Wetland conservation is seen as vital to the larger strategy of climate change mitigation and adaption measures to help keep planet Earth cool, and healthy. The stress on active local community participation in wetland conservation and management is, therefore, seen as vital.
Worldwide, this new thinking process in conservation is taking root fast and there are already good examples where this model has succeeded. Co-partnership in mangrove conservation in coastline Indonesia is seen as one of the best models in the world. The African Great Green Wall model is also seen as a successful co-partnership model.
In Manipur, co-partnership in management and conservation of Longku forest under Dailong village in Tamenglong District is a good case study where the local community and Tamenglong Forest Division are working hand in hand to protect the 11 sq km forest area, which is now a truly dense and green zone, and with springs leaping back to life.
For Loktak, it is high time that the State administration and Loktak lake managers come up with strategies of co-partnership with local community to work best for regaining the wetland’s sagging health conditions, and showcase it as truly worthy of the ‘wetland of international importance’ tag.
