Lake 2000: Symposium on Restoration of Lakes and Wetlands
27-29, November 2000, CSIC Auditorium, IISc Campus.

Lake Monitoring & Management Symposium
20-23 Dec 1998, CES Seminar Hall, IISc Campus

A number of scientific papers had been presented by scientists from India and  abroad on different aspects of wetlands, including energetics, nutrient cycling, biodiversity, disease and health of the biota (particularly the fishes), sustainable utilization, management and conservation of the  wetlands and their biota, reclamation & restoration of the wetlands & their modeling.

On the basis of discussions and deliberations held in the Symposium, the following recommendations are unanimously adopted:

• Recommendation No 1 :   The Symposium recommends integration of different Government Agencies for effective implementation of activities related to restoration of wetlands, their sustainable utilization & conservation.
• Recommendation No 2 :   It is recommended that a National Committee for Lakes and Wetlands reclamation, restoration & development be formed to formulate a National Policy to evolve strategies for their sustainable utilization and conservation. (Funds be made available from National & International sources to the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, to go ahead with the restoration of the Lakes in collaboration with National & International Organizations in view of the importance of Lakes and Wetlands in rural development).
• Recommendation No 3 :   A Comprehensive Plan be prepared to study selective, representative Wetlands in a phased manner to create database with regard  to their present status, sustainable use, management and conservation and to formulate strategies for their long term management. Regular monitoring of  ecosystems  through  the involvement of Schools, Colleges & Universities. (For this  purpose, funds be made available to Centre for Ecological Sciences,  Indian Institute of Science,  Bangalore to  implement proposal in collaboration with National and International  Organizations.).
• Recommendation No 4 :   A  Comprehensive Action Plan be chalked out immediately for taking care of health, disease and quarantine aspects of the aquatic  biota. The aspects assume importance in view of the still persisting virulent disease like Epizootic Ulcerative Syndrome (EUS) among the freshwater fishes of India .  A National Committee be formed to tackle such health and disease problems among the aquatic biota which has been a concern to the society as a whole. The committee be entrusted to find ways and means to control the epidemic.
• Recommendation No 5 :   India being a Megadiversity region, with hotspots in Western Ghats and North Eastern regions, a comprehensive action plan be chalked out to study the aquatic biodiversity of the inland water bodies of the country. Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES) be entrusted to co-ordinate the aspect with collaboration at National and International levels.
• Recommendation No 6 :   Mass awareness programme be chalked out and implemented through Governmental and Non-Governmental Organisations(NGO) for popularization of the importance of the lakes, wetlands and rivers, and their role in the aquatic biodiversity and sustenance of human civilization. CES  be  entrusted to co-ordinate the aspect with collaboration from Governmental and Non Governmental Organization at National and International levels.
• Recommendation No 7 :   Lakes & Ponds in each Zilla Panchayath area be identified and their streams recharged through peoples participation. People should  be made aware of their significance so that reclamation and conservation of these water bodies be taken up effectively.
• Recommendation No 8 :   Temporary ponds be identified and their diversity explored to delineate their contribution to the society.
• Recommendation No 9 :   People's watchdog team to stop the dumping of wastes into water bodies and the catchment area protection. Steps should be taken to bring in aesthetic sense among the public which will help protect the lakes.
• Recommendation  No 10 :   Fishermen socio - economic aspects to be taken into consideration while formulating wetland policies.
• Recommendation No 11 :   Students involvement including curriculum development concerning the protection of the ecosystem.
• Recommendation  No 12 :   Ownership and legal status of lakes and the inhabitants around to be properly defined.
• Recommendation  No 13 :   Easy access for scientists and students to investigate the status of wetlands in protected  areas. Free access  of data , Survey  of   India toposheets, along with GIS and Remote Sensing data be made available.
• Recommendation  No 14 :   Introduction of exotic fishes into lakes to be permitted only after clearance from Fishery experts.
• Recommendation  No  15 :   Education and training : Participants strongly felt that the public needs to be better informed about the rationale, goals and methods of aquatic ecosystem restorations. In addition, scientists and researchers with the broad training needed for aquatic ecosystem restoration, management and conservation are in short supply. The lake 2000 recommends are following :

Public education and outreach should be components of aquatic ecosystem restorations. Lake  Associations and citizen monitoring groups have proved helpful in educating the general public, and effort should be made to ensure  that  such  groups  have   accurate   information  about  the  causes  of  lake  degradation and various restoration methods.

Funding is needed for both undergraduate and graduate programmes in aquatic   ecosystem   restorations.  Training    programmes   should   cause traditional   disciplinary   boundaries  such  as  those  between   basic   and applied ecology: between  water   quality  management  and  fisheries  or  wildlife management :  among  lakes, streams, river, coastal  wetlands and wetland  ecology.

In this regard Lake 2000 recommends:

• Organizing three to four week training course in the year 2001. Training modules include aspects of
• Limnology of lakes, reservoirs and wetlands
• Coastal wetlands
• Watershed hydrology/Urban hydrology.
• Ground water and hydrogeology
• Monitoring and modeling
• Restoration methodologies and conservation strategies.
• Remediation measures.
• Integrated management of water quality and quantity with ecosystem protection.
• Land use, urban planning, Geographic Information System, Remote sensing.
• Sustainable water resources management and water resources policy.
• Organizing an International Symposium in November/December 2002 to discuss research needs for the restoration conservation and management of wetlands.

• Recommendation  No  16 :  The  National  and  State  Governments  should  support research  and  development,  watershed-scale  restorations that integrate lake, stream and   wetland   components.  State  agencies,  Non-Governmental  organizations  and  University  researchers  should participate  in planning, implementing and evaluating  restoration projects. In  addition, an  inter-agency programme under  Karnataka State  Council  for  Science  and   Technology could be formed to  co-ordinate the selection, planning and  evaluation of these pilot  projects. The  research and implementation of  the projects could be managed by the participating agencies.
• Recommendation  No  17 :   Lake  2000  believes that  goals for  restoration of lakes need to be  realistic and  should be based on the  concept of  expected  conditions  for individual  eco-regions. Further  development  of  project  selection  and   evaluation  technology based on  eco-region  definitions  and  description  should be  encouraged   and supported by the national and state government agencies.
• Research and  development  are  needed in  several  areas of applied  limnology, and this   programme   should   take   an   experimental    approach    which    emphasizes manipulation of whole ecosystems.
• Improved techniques for littoral zone and aquatic microphytes management need to be developed. Research  should  go  beyond the removal of  nuisance  microphytes to address  the  restoration of native  species that are essential for  waterfowl  and  fish habitat .  Basic  research  is  necessary  to   improve   understanding  of  fundamental limnological  processes  in  littoral  zones  and the  interactions  between  littoral and pelagic  zones  of  lakes.
• Biomanipulation (foodweb management) has great potential for low-cost and long- term management of lakes, and  research in this  emerging field must be  stimulated.   Innovative and low-cost approaches to  contaminant  clean up in  lakes  need to  be developed. The relations between loadings of stress-causing  substances  and  responses of lakes need to be  understood  more  precisely.  Research should  be  undertaken to improve  predictions of trophic state and nutrient loading relationships.
• Improved assessment programmes are needed to determine the severity and extent of damage in lakes and wetlands and a change in status over time.  Innovative basic research is required to improve the science of assessment and monitoring.  There is a great need for cost effective, reliable indicators of ecosystems function,  including  those  that  would  reflect  long-term  change and response to stress.   Research on indicators should  include  traditional  community   and  ecosystem   measurements, paleoecological trend  assessments and remote sensing.  Effective  assessment  and  monitoring  programme  would  involve  network  of  local  schools ,  colleges  and universities.
• Procedures such as food web manipulation, introduction of phytophagous,  insects  and fish lining, and  reintroduction  of  native  species  show  promise  for  effective  and  long-lasting results when used alone or in  combination  with other  restoration measures.  Further  research  and  development needs to be  undertaken  on  these aspects.
• Paleolimnological  approaches  should be used to infer the past  trophic  history of lakes  and  wetlands  and  to decide  whether  these  systems  should  be  restored.
• Paleolimnological  approaches also could be used to infer whether a lake has been restored  to  its  predisturbance  condition.

Wetland Policy Guidelines

The objective of policy with respect to  wetland  conservation is to  promote  the  conservation  of  wetlands  to  sustain  their ecological  and  socio-economical  functions ,  now  and  in  the future. Towards this end, the goals are,

• Maintenance  of the  functions and values  derived from  wetlands;
• No net loss  of  wetland  functions on regional lands  and  water;
• Enhancement and rehabilitation  of  wetlands where the  continued loss or degradation of wetlands or their  functions have  reached critical levels;
• Recognition of wetland functions in resource planning, management  and  economic  decision  making with regard to all national/state  programmes, policies and activities;
• Securement  of wetlands of significance;
• Recognition of sound, sustainable management practices in sectors such as forestry and agriculture that make  positive contribution to wetland conservation while also  achieving wise use of wetland resources;
• Utilization  of wetlands in a manner that enhances prospects;

The proposed strategies in this regard are,

1. Developing public awareness.
2. Managing  wetlands on  State  lands and water,and in other State programmes.
3. Promote the wetland conservation in  State protected areas.
4. Enhancing co-operation among State, District, Regional and Non Government partners.
5. Conserving wetlands of significance.
6. Ensuring a sound scientific basis for policy.

The wetland policy at State level provides :

• A signal of commitment to wetland conservation and adds as a            catalyst for  mutually  supporting  action across the region;
• A  heightened  profile  for  the  issue to call attention to wetland, socio-economic and environmental benefits, to ensure that  wetlands  receive  adequate consideration by the State government;
• Direction  and  support  for  individual  decision makers to            ensure  that  opportunity  for  the  sustained  wise  use of wetlands  is  realized, to avoid or  reserve wetland related conflicts;
• Clarification of specific  State responsibility for wetlands, as well as a synthesis of existing legislation, policies and  programmes which already contribute to  wetland conservation;
• A  consistent,  co-ordinated  approach among the many  State           agencies   which  influence  wetlands,  aimed  at  adjusting activities  which  conflict  with  wetland  conservation and  ensuring progress towards specific objectives and goals.

 A  comprehensive  policy  on  wetlands  needs to be formulated to       enhance the quality and increase spatial coverage specific to the region, to offer some of the most  environmentally productive and  cost  effective  opportunities  for  wetland  conservation .  The objectives should focus on addressing the following aspects,

• To reverse the current decline in the wetland base, ensuring      no net loss and long term net gain in the quality, quantity and permanence of wetlands.
• To encourage partnerships in restoration, management, usage,     through co-operative planning efforts with the primary focus on wetland conservation.
• Draft procedures for administration  of  wetland usage and its       conservation.
• The  emphasis is placed on the  formation  of  Regional Wetlands       Forum, involving local educational, public and private organization       (involved in wetland issue). For effective functioning, the forum should  consist  researchers,  school  and  college-students  and teachers ,  economists,  policy  makers ,  representatives  from agricultural  community,  developmental  concerns ,  conservation      organizations, state  and  local agencies under the collaboration efforts from the  Ministry of Forest and Environment, Ministry of Science and  Technology, Indian Council for Agricultural Research and planning departments with the following responsibilities. The  policy should address,
1. Defining wetlands, classification (based on degree of saturation, type of vegetation, usage, soil etc),inventory, planning, wetland regulation ,  and  conservation  approaches  (i.e., acquisition,  restoration, management and education).
2.  Establish regional  and  state-wide goals to achieve long term         increase in wetland acreage, functions and values in emphasizing the economic uses(fishing, agriculture, drinking water supply, etc.).
3. Draft programs for preservation, conservation, restoration, and enhance wetlands  acreage  and  provide technical and adequate funding for wetlands program.
4. In  the  formulation/development  of  consistent  standards and  guidelines  concerning  wetland  water  quality, mitigation and monitoring of mitigation and restoration efforts.
5. Encourage actions that promote  efficiency of  wetlands-related Permitting  processes for  the  varied  usage of  wetlands for  economic  purposes (as  fisheries, irrigation etc) by  suitable policies and creation of concurrent permit review procedures.
6. Enhancing co-ordination of governmental (state, federal) and non- governmental  organizations  responsible in wetland development. Action  oriented restoration and conservation programs could be  initiated   and  monitored   through  discussion  meetings   of  academicians, planning and implementing  agencies for providing  a platform for exchange of ideas.
7. Help in the  development  of  internal  policies  within  state agencies  like  irrigation departments, public works department, forest  department, urban  development  and  others  that  will encourage  wetland conservation activities which are compatible with programmatic goals of flood control, ground water recharge, water management, water pollution control, recreation and others.
8. Establishment of inter-agency  task  force  responsible  for co- ordinating and information  exchange among the agencies, boards, and departments as necessary to ensure co-ordinated development and implementation of wetland conservation program.
9. Integrate wetland policy and planning with other environmental and land use processes.
10. Cost-benefit analysis of the wetland resources derived by the society  and  economic  evaluation  caused  due to the loss of wetlands.
11. The forum  could  act as an  advisory  to the  government  in providing funds for wetland research and conservation programs.
12. Formulate Wetland Protection Act as a legislative vehicle to   restrict any  disturbance  of  wetlands  leading  to  loss in   biodiversity dependent on them.

Participants of Workshop on Urban Lake Monitoring & Management (23^rd-25^th Sept 09)