3 Criteria to be met
- Soil Hydration > Soil Aeration
- aquatic ecosystem ➡️ atleast once in a year
- water-bird species ➡️ presence / visiting
CITE
- broad defn of wetland
- only to meet 3 condn
Identification of Wetlands by GoI
- > 7 lakh wetlands
- as per National Wetlands Atlas, 2011
Types of Wetlands
- fresh / marine / brackish
- temp / permanent
- running➡️(lotic) / stagnant➡️(lentic) water
- manmade / artificial
- surface / sub-surface
- coastal / in-land
Examples
- Mangroves
- Corals
- river stretches
- lakes / fishponds / rice paddles
- salt pans
- marine stretches / backwaters / Creeks
Importance of Wetlands
- Carbon sink
- flood plains
- kidneys of nature
- supports rich biodiversity
- provides revenue generation models
- buffer at the time of Tsunami
- Ecotone
- water src. ➡️ agriculture & ppl
- prevents ➡️ surface runoff & soil erosion
Threats to Biodiversity
- Eutrophication
- over-exploitation
- pollution
- catchment degradation
- introduction of Invasive Species
- climate change