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Wetlands are often dismissed as wastelands, swamps to be drained, marshes to be filled, or riversides to be built upon. Yet, in reality, they are among the planet’s most vital ecosystems. They filter our water, shield us from floods, store carbon, and sustain an astonishing diversity of life. In India, however, wetlands are vanishing at an alarming pace, sacrificed to urban expansion, infrastructure, and neglect.
It is against this backdrop that the National Water Mission (NWM), under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, convened its 60th Water Talk recently in July dedicated to “Wetland protection and sustainable ecosystem management in India.” The keynote speaker was Dr. Jayshree Vencatesan, co-founder of Chennai’s Care Earth Trust and the first Indian recipient of the Ramsar Award for “Wise Use of Wetlands.”
Her journey, from witnessing the Godavari River in spate as a child to transforming Chennai’s Pallikaranai Marsh from a garbage dump into a biodiversity hotspot in the early 2000s with an initial grant of just Rs. 30,000, framed the conversation not just as policy, but as lived experience and urgent action. The session featured insights from Ministry officials and grassroots conservationists. She emphasised the marsh's vital role as a frontline defense against floods, a cradle for endangered birds, and a living carbon sink, but never a wasteland.
What are wetlands?
The Ramsar Convention, signed in 1971 with India as an early signatory, broadly defines wetlands as lands where water and soil meet, creating unique ecosystems. They include marshes, peatlands, floodplains, rivers, lakes, and coastal habitats like mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrass beds. Even shallow marine areas, such as coral reefs less than six metres deep at low tide, are considered wetlands. Human-made sites like wastewater ponds also fall within this definition. In simple terms, any area that stays wet, even just a patch of land with moist soil, can be called a wetland. This generic definition and the intangible nature of wetland ecosystem services make conservation challenging due to varied interpretations.
Wetlands as lifelines, not wastelands
Invoking the Ramsar Convention, Dr. Jayshree Vencatesan underscored the indispensable role of wetlands in sustaining life and ecosystems. Stressing their ability to filter water, store carbon, prevent floods, and support biodiversity, she says that wetlands are frontline defenses against floods, cradles for endangered species, and living carbon sinks. They are never wastelands.
While India has more than 80 Ramsar sites, Dr. Vencatesan noted that their protection and use remain inconsistent. Her organisation, Care Earth Trust, began by restoring Chennai’s Pallikaranai Marsh with a modest grant, and today the model is being studied in states like Bihar and West Bengal. She explained that “wise use” means maintaining each wetland’s unique ecological character, managing a marsh as a marsh, and a floodplain as a floodplain, without forcing one uniform definition across varied landscapes.
Policy challenges and the way forward
Archana Varma, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Jal Shakti, echoed this need for context-driven approaches. She praised Dr. Vencatesan’s grassroots scientific method, noting that “Policies must originate from ground-level intelligence, informed by wetland communities and NGOs, not just urban technocrats.”
She further outlined India's wetland policy, noting that wetland conservation falls under the Ministry of Environment and Forest, guided by the Ramsar Convention, and managed by a national wetland committee and state wetland authorities. Varma acknowledged persistent hurdles like outdated records, unclear land ownership, weak enforcement, encroachment, invasive species, and inadequate funding.
She highlighted efforts like wetland “health cards” in Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir, but argued that stronger integrated management plans, stricter enforcement, and even civil penalties for violations are necessary. “There is a need for a clearer, though not uniform, definition of wetlands and enhanced inter-sectoral coordination,” she added, pointing out that wetlands are too often viewed only as environmental concerns rather than water resources.
She also underlined the difficulty of balancing conservation with development when wetlands lie within rapidly growing urban areas. Her call was for community participation and ownership, ensuring that wetlands are not isolated pockets of ecology, but integral to the human settlements around them.
The value of wetland ecosystem services
Wetlands provide crucial ecosystem services, categorised as provisioning (e.g., drinking water, food, agricultural water), cultural (e.g., aesthetic and recreational benefits), regulatory (e.g., protection from floods and storm surges), and support services (vital for other organisms). While provisioning services are often prioritised for their direct monetary value, cultural, regulatory, and support services are frequently undervalued despite their significant economic and environmental importance.
The Ramsar Secretariat now emphasises specific, tangible wetland benefits like flood control, groundwater replenishment, shoreline stabilisation, water purification, and biodiversity preservation to highlight their value. For restoration, Ramsar provides a framework focused on maintaining wetland area and water retention, restoring species diversity, fostering community ownership, and preventing groundwater depletion. India demonstrates strong commitment to the Ramsar Convention, with 89 Ramsar sites, each requiring an integrated management plan, and promotes an outcome-based approach to wetland management to enhance these vital ecosystem services.
Disruptive practices undermining conservation
Wetland management in India continues to face multiple challenges, from invasive species—often introduced accidentally—to systemic policy and knowledge gaps. These fragile ecosystems, shallow by nature, can quickly transform and be overrun by species such as Prosopis juliflora, making restoration extremely difficult. Experts note that despite India’s leadership in global environmental conventions, “disruptive practices” undermine conservation efforts. These include the absence of standardised ecological definitions, incomplete inventories, gaps in data on wetland types, and confusing nomenclature.
Modern development perspectives also prioritise immediate human use over ecological value. Wetlands are often homogenised, stripped of their unique roles, and converted when their traditional functions are perceived as obsolete. Corporate social responsibility (CSR)-funded projects, in the absence of clear guidelines, sometimes lead to unverified or poorly designed restoration efforts that displace local communities rather than empower them.
Towards inclusive and science-based approaches
Effective conservation, experts argue, requires science-based, data-driven approaches backed by adaptive management strategies. Climate change adds urgency, making flexible and iterative planning critical. Wetland research must also expand to integrate social sciences, recognising that conservation is as much about people’s relationships with wetlands as it is about biodiversity.
A particularly troubling concern is the erosion of cultural ties. Many wetlands are seen today as “no man’s land,” weakening local stewardship, even though community-led restoration examples have shown promising results. Despite these challenges, India possesses the expertise, funding, and institutional capacity to achieve meaningful conservation if wetlands are recognised as natural infrastructure essential for water security and climate resilience.
Key strategies proposed include treating wetlands as multifunctional habitats, setting achievable restoration goals, penalising violations, and ensuring that science-led restoration begins alongside development projects. Equally important is building broad public ownership—by educating young people, integrating wetland conservation into curricula, and enlisting cultural influencers to shift public perception.
Final takeaways
As the session ended, participants expressed optimism tempered by resolve. Urban planners, ecologists, and grassroots workers agreed on one point: wetlands are no longer optional—they are essential, multipurpose infrastructures. Realizing their promise demands action on three fronts:
Policy clarity: Unified databases, secure land titles, and cross-agency coordination.
Scientific rigor plus community engagement: Mapping plus storytelling equals local buy-in.
Empowering women-led teams: As scientists, advocates, and change-makers in water governance.
Dr. Vencatesan’s concluding remark struck both as a warning and a promise: “Delay is no longer an option, or ecosystems won’t forgive us.”
Wetlands in India stand at a crossroads. They are simultaneously undervalued and overexploited, yet indispensable to survival in an era of climate extremes. What emerged from the Water Talk is not simply a call for more laws or plans, but for a shift in perspective: wetlands must be seen as living infrastructure, as cultural anchors, and as climate shields. Their future will depend not only on scientists and policymakers, but also on local communities, educators, and citizens who demand that these ecosystems be protected. The message is clear—if wetlands continue to be treated as expendable, India risks losing its most vital defence against floods, droughts, and biodiversity collapse. Protecting them is not an act of charity to nature, but an investment in our own survival.