INTRODUCTION:

Wetlands are fragile ecosystems and are susceptible to changes even with little change in its composition of biotic and abiotic factors. In recent years, there has been increasing concern over the continuing degradation of wetlands and in particular, rivers and lakes. Wetland sustains all life and performs some useful functions in the maintenance of overall balance of nature. Wetlands are most productive and biologically rich ecosystems on earth and are also among the most endangered. They interface between land and water systems. "Wetlands" is the collective term for marshes, swamps, bogs, and similar areas. They filter sediments and nutrients from surface water and support all life forms through extensive food webs and biodiversity.

Wetland systems directly or indirectly support millions of people and provide goods and services to them. They have important processes, which include the movement of water through the wetland into streams or the ocean; decay of organic matter; release of nitrogen, sulphur, and carbon into the atmosphere; removal of nutrients, sediment and organic matter from water moving into the wetland; and the growth and development of all the organisms that require wetlands for life. Wetlands may benefit directly as components/products such as fish, timber, recreation and water supply or indirect benefits which arise from the functions occurring with in the ecosystem such as flood control, ground water recharge and storm protection. The mere existence of wetlands may hold great significance to some people as a part of their cultural heritage.

Wetlands have capacity to retain excess floodwater during heavy rainfall that would otherwise pay a share to flooding. By retaining flood flows, they maintain a constant flow regime downstream, preserve the water quality there and increase biological productivity for both the aquatic life of the wetland and for the human communities of the region. Periodically inundated wetlands are very effective in storing rainwater, which are having preponderate in recharging ground water supplies. The extent of ground water recharge by a wetland depends upon soil and its permeability, vegetation, sediment accumulation in the lakebed, surface area to volume ratio and water table gradient.

Wetland vegetation plays a major role in erosion control, which in turn contributes to shoreline stabilization and storm protection. Coastal wetlands, in particular mangrove forests, pay a share to shoreline stabilization and storm protection, by helping dissipate the force and protect the coast by reducing the damage of wind and wave action. Thus wetland plays an important role in management of natural hazards at much lower cost, reducing current velocity through friction and improves water quality.

Wetlands retain nutrients by storing eutrophicational parameters like nitrogen and phosphorus flooding waters in vegetation or accumulating them in the sub-soil, decreasing the potential for eutrophication and excess plant growth in receiving waters. They also help in absorbing sewage and in purifying water supplies.

Apart from these, the socio-economic values through water supply, fisheries, fuel wood, medicinal plants, livestock grazing, agriculture, energy resource, wildlife resource, transport, recreation and tourism etc., is significant. The functional properties of wetland ecosystem demonstrate clearly its role in maintaining the ecological balance.

WETLAND LOSS AND DEGRADATION:

Wetlands are estimated to occupy around 8.6 million km² (6.4 %) of the earth's surface. Out of these, about 4.8 million km² are found in the tropics and sub-tropics. This area estimation was compared with what existed in 1900 and was found that around 50% of the world's wetlands have been lost in one century. The major activities responsible for this wetland loss are urbanization, drainage for agriculture and water system regulation (IUCN, 1999). Development activities like excavation, filling, draining etc. are the major destructive methods resulting in a significant loss of wetland acreage throughout the country.

The impact on wetlands may be grouped in to five main categories: loss of wetland area, changes to water regime, changes in water quality, overexploitation of wetland products and introduction of exotic or alien species.

These quality and quantity declinations, have contributed to loss of the biological diversity of flora and fauna, migratory birds and also the productivity of the system. Simultaneously several thousand species have now become extinct and many other sustainable species, products like fish, timber, medicinal plants, water transport and water supply are over exploited.

GLOBAL SCENARIO - AN OVERVIEW OF STATUS OF WETLANDS:

The Earth, two-third of which is surrounded by water bodies looks like a blue planet, the planet of water from space (UNEP, 1994). The world's lakes and rivers are probably the planet's most important freshwater resources. But the amount of fresh water covers some 2.53 % of the earth's water. At the earth surface, fresh water forms the habitat of large number of species. These aquatic organisms and the ecosystem in which they live represent a substantial sector of the Earth's biological diversity.

It is interesting to know that, there are nearly 14 x 10² cubic kilometres of water on the planet in which more than 97.5% of the total water in the hydrosphere is deposited in the oceans that cover 71% of the earth's surface. Wetlands are estimated to occupy nearly 6.4% of the Earth's land surface. Nearly 30% is made up of bogs, 26% fens, 20% swamps and 15% flood plains. The amount of fresh water on earth is very small (covers 2.53 % of the earth's water) compared to seawater. Of the Earth's fresh water 69.6% is locked away in the continental ice, 30.1% is in under ground aquifers and 0.26% is composed of rivers and lakes. In particular, lakes are founded to occupy less than 0.007% of world's fresh water (UNEP 1994).

INDIAN SCENARIO ON STATUS OF WETLANDS:

India is blessed with water resources in its numerous rivers and streams. Also, India by virtue of its geographical sketch and varied terrain and climate supports a rich diversity of inland and coastal wetland habitats. The association of man and wetlands is ancient. It is not surprising that the first sign of civilization are traced to wetland areas. The flood plains of the Indus, the Nile delta, and the fertile crescent of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers provided man with all his basic necessities. Water may be required for various purposes like drinking and personal hygiene, fisheries, agriculture, navigation, industrial production, hydropower generation and recreational activities. Obviously, a wide variety of wetlands like marshes, swamps, bogs, peat land, open water bodies like lakes and rivers, mangroves, tidal marshes etc., which can be profitably used by man for his various needs and for environment amelioration. But now, with increasing environmental pressure of unplanned urbanization and growing population, wetland benefits are disappearing.

DISTRIBUTION OF WETLANDS IN INDIA:

India has three major river systems in North - the Indus, the Ganga, and the Brahmaputra, which are perennial rivers rising from the Himalayas. Also three major systems in south - the Krishna, the Godavari and the Cauveri, which are not perennial since they are mainly rain-fed. The central part of India has the Narmada and the Tapti. The Indo-Gangetic floodplain is the largest wetland regime of India. Most of the natural wetlands of India are connected with the river systems of the North and the South. The lofty Himalayan mountain ranges in northern India accommodate several well-known lakes, especially the palaearctic lakes of Ladakh and the Vale of Kashmir, which are sources of major rivers. In the northeastern and eastern parts of the country are located the massive floodplains of Ganga and Brahmaputra along with the productive system of swamps, marshes and oxbow lakes associated with them. Apart from these, number of man made wetlands have been formed for various multipurpose projects. Examples are Harike Barrage at the confluence of the Beas and the Sutlej in Punjab, Bhakra Nangal Dam in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, and the Cosi Barrage in Bihar-Nepal border. India is having climate ranging from cold arid Ladakh to the warm arid Rajasthan, with a coastline of over 7500-km, with its major river systems and mountains.

India has totally 67,429 wetlands, which cover an area of about 4.1 million hectares. Out of these, 2,175 wetlands are natural, which cover an area about 1.5 million hectares and 65,254 are man made which occupy about 2.6 million hectares.

According to Forest Survey of India, mangroves cover an additional 6,740 sq km. area. The major concentrations of mangroves in the country are Sunderbans and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which hold 80% of mangroves of the country. The rest are in Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Goa.

Wetlands have been drained and transformed by anthropogenic activities like unplanned urban and agricultural development, industrial siting, road construction, impoundment's, resource extraction, dredge disposal causing substantial economic and ecological losses. Wetlands are having an aerial extent of 58.2 million ha. Nearly 40.9 million ha are under paddy cultivation. About 3.6 million ha are suitable for fish culture. Approximately 2.9 million ha are under capture fisheries (brackish and freshwater). Mangroves, estuaries and backwaters occupy an aerial extent of 0.4, 3.9 and 3.5 million ha respectively. Man made impoundment contribute around 3 million ha. Nearly 28,000-km areas are under rivers, including main tributaries and canals. Canal and irrigation channels contribute to another 113,000-km area.

Though accurate results on wetland loss in India are not available, the Wildlife Institute of India has conducted a survey on the loss rates and revealed that some 70 - 80 percent of individual fresh water marshes and lakes in the Gangetic flood plains have been lost in the last five decades. Indian mangrove areas have been almost halved from 700,000 hectares in 1987 to 453,000 hectares in 1995.

WETLANDS OF KARNATAKA:

Karnataka is situated between 11^o31' and 18^o45' North Latitudes and 74^o 12' and 78^o40' East Longitudes. Karnataka is consecrated with water resources in its numerous rivers, lakes and streams. Its length from north to south is about 750 km and its width from east to west is about 400 km. The State covers an area of 1,92,204 sq.km, which is 5.35 % of the total geographical area of the country. There are nineteen districts in the state. Karnataka has a coastline of about 320-km. Annual rainfall in Karnataka varies from 3932.9 mm (Dakshina Kannada) to 6.9 mm (Dharwad). Temperature is the lowest in the beginning of January and increases thereafter gradually at first and rapidly after the middle of February to beginning of March. The warmest month over a major part of the state is May in which maximum temperature is recorded. According to 1991 census the population of Karnataka State was 4,49,77000.

DISTRIBUTION OF WETLANDS:

Wetlands of Karnataka are classified in to two categories: inland and coastal wetlands. Both include natural and man-made water bodies. Inland natural wetland includes Lakes, Ox-bow Lake, and Marsh/Swamp; inland Man-made wetland includes Reservoir, Tank, and Waterlogged areas. Coastal-natural wetland includes Estuary, Creek, Kayal, Mudflat, Sand, Mangroves and Marsh Vegetation; Coastal man-made wetland includes Saltpans. Of the total geographical area of Karnataka the wetlands cover about 2.72 Mha. Out of this inland wetland covers 2.54 Mha and coastal wetland about 0.18 Mha.

Totally 682 wetlands are scattered throughout Karnataka and its area covers about 271840.0 ha. Out of which 7 wetlands are inland natural (581.25 ha), 615 are inland man-made (253433.75 ha), 56 are coastal natural (16643.75 ha) and 4 are coastal man-made (1181.75 ha). The inland wetlands cover 93.43 % (254015 ha) of the total wetland area while coastal wetlands cover only 6.57 % (17825.5 ha). Tanks (561) rank first in the number of wetlands and account for an area of 79087.50 ha. Reservoirs take care of the next position in number (53) whose area extends about 174290.00 ha. Lakes are fewer in number (5) and cover an area of 437.50 ha. An area of 550 ha was reported under mangroves in Karnataka. Karnataka has the basins of Krishna (58.9 %), Cauvery (18.8%), Godavari (2.31%), North Pennar (3.62 %), South Pennar (1.96%), Palar (1.55 %) and west flowing river basins (12.8%) with drainage area of 1,91,770 sq.km (Rege, et al 1996).

Wetlands of Karnataka have a total water spread area of 204053.74 ha for pre-monsoon, while in post monsoon it is 246643.00 ha. Out of the total 682 wetlands in the state, 71 have shown water spread less than 56.25 ha (Rege, et. al., 1996). The water-spread area of lakes/ponds in post monsoon is about 437.50 ha while in pre monsoon it is about 368.75 ha. Reservoirs have shown considerable variations from post monsoon (167268 ha) to pre monsoon (138684.25 ha). Tanks also vary from 46975.25 ha in post monsoon to 60912.25 ha in pre monsoon. The coastal wetlands, which are under constant influence of the sea have not shown any variations and remained unchanged in terms of water spread area in all seasons. Most of the tanks dry-up during pre-monsoon seasons.

BANGALORE SCENARIO:

Bangalore District is located in the heart of South Deccan of Peninsular India. It is situated in the southeastern corner of Karnataka state (12^o39' - 13^o18' N latitude and 77^o22' - 77^o52' E longitude) with a geographical area of about 2,191 sq. km at an average elevation of 900 m above the mean sea level. The climate of the district is having agreeable temperature ranging from the highest mean maximum of 36.2^o C in April to lowest mean maximum of 11.4^o C in January. It has two rainy seasons from June to September and from October to November coming one after the other, but with opposite wind regime, corresponding to southwest and northeast monsoons. The mean value of the rainfall of about 900-mm with standard deviation of 18.7 mm was recorded from the year 1875 to 1976.

Old Bangalore was having a large number of lakes, ponds and marshy wetlands, which ensured a high level of ground water table and also used to maintain local climate in the city. But in recent days that many lakes and ponds of Bangalore have been lost in the process of various anthropogenic activities and population pressures leading to unplanned urbanisation and expansion. Rest of the surviving lakes are reduced to cesspools due to direct discharge of industrial effluents and unregulated dumping of solid wastes.

DISTRIBUTION OF LAKES IN BANGALORE:

Wetlands of Bangalore occupy about 4.8% of the city geographical area (640 sq.km) covering both urban and non-urban areas of Bangalore. Bangalore has many man-made wetlands but has no natural wetlands. They were built for various hydrological purposes and mainly to serve the needs of irrigated agriculture. Totally there were 262 lakes coming within the Green belt area of Bangalore City. The number of tanks in Bangalore has fallen from 262 in 1960 to some 81 at present (Lakshman Rao, et al., 1986).

IMPACTS AND STATUS OF WETLANDS IN BANGALORE:

Status of wetlands in Bangalore is a direct measure of status of management of anthropogenic activities, management of land, solid waste collection and disposal, disposal of used water and also attitude of the people at large. In Bangalore wetlands are being lost (Kiran and Ramachandra, T.V., 1999) due to:

Urbanization and anthropogenic stress in Bangalore City has paid a share in discontinuity of the drainage network due to loss of wetlands. Studies revealed that nearly 35% decrease in number of water bodies during 1973 - 1996 (Deepa, R.S et al., 1998).

Earlier investigations revealed that nearly 30% of lakes are used for irrigation. Fishing is being carried out in 25 % of lakes surveyed. About 36 % of lakes were used for washing purposes and only 3% were observed for drinking purposes. Agriculture along drying margins is practiced in 21% of lakes. Approximately 35% of lakes were used for grazing by cattle. Mud lifting was recorded in 30% of the lakes and brick making in 38% of the lakes (Krishna M.B. et. al., 1996).

STATUS OF WATER BODIES: PHYSICO, CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISATION:

The colour of the polluted waterbodies was mostly greenish, due to algal blooms and effluents from domestic and industrial sources. Turbidity in the waterbodies ranged from 1.0-25.0 NTU (Nephlometeric Turbidity Units) in cleaner waterbodies and 70.0-362.0 NTU in polluted waterbodies, mainly due to silt, organic matter and autochthonous sources (mainly planktons) from both point source (industries and domestic) and non-point source pollution (storm water runoff), directly influencing the light penetration and affecting the production efficiencies in lakes.

The pH values of most water samples analysed showed to range from alkaline 7.6 - 9.3 to acidic. Kamakshipalya recorded 6.0 - 6.6 during the entire study period. Higher alkaline values were noticed at Yediur and Ulsoor tanks. At a given temperature, pH is controlled by the dissolved chemical compounds and the biological processes in the solution (Chapman, 1996). The dissolved solids mainly consist of carbonates, sulphates, chlorides, nitrates and possibly phosphates of calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium. High dissolved solids were noticed in all the studied lakes except Bannergatta and Sankey lakes ranging from 30.0-301.0 mg/L and 430.0-1024.0 mg/L in the polluted lakes such as Kamakshipalya and Yediur respectively. The suspended solids ranged from 52.2 mg/L to a high of 288.3 mg/L as a result of silt in suspension. The dissolved oxygen levels of the analysed waterbodies ranged from 1.2 mg/L in Kamakshipalya lake to 11.1 mg/L in Ulsoor and Yediur lakes largely due to photosynthetic activity. The recommended dissolved oxygen concentration for a healthy and ideally productive lake waterbody is 8 mg/L (Wetzel, 1973).

The contents of phosphates were found to be low, ranging from 0.06 mg/L to a high of 4.2 mg/L in Kamakshipalya lake. The standard is 0.2 mg/L for surface inland water (Chakarapani et al, 1996). This parameter is very crucial and ecologically elusive, as it has the tendency to be precipitated by the many cations and accumulates at the bottom of the lake. The nitrate values ranged from 0.1mg/L to 2.7 mg/L. The standard for inland surface water is 0.1 mg/L (NEERI, 1988). This parameter is very significant from the point of view of productivity in lakes.

The Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) measures the oxygen equivalent of the organic and inorganic matter in a water sample that is susceptible to oxidation. COD as a result of pollution is largely determined by the various organic and inorganic materials (calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium etc). The COD values ranged from 27mg/L in unpolluted waters to a high of 621 mg/L in Kamakshipalya.

Among the analysed heavy metals iron and lead were shown to be present in greater concentrations than zinc and chromium.

Results of the present study showed that for most of the parameters for five lakes (Ulsoor, Hebbal, Yediur, Kamakshipalya and Madivala) exceeded the limits set by Indian Standard for Industrial and sewage effluents discharge (IS: 2490 -1982).

WETLAND MANAGEMENT:

Management is the manipulation of an ecosystem to ensure maintenance of all functions and characteristics of the specific wetland type. The loss or impairment of wetland ecosystem is usually accompanied by irreversible loss in both the valuable environmental functions and amenities important to the society (Zentner, J. 1988). Appropriate management and restoration mechanisms need to be implemented in order to regain and protect the physical, chemical and biological integrity of wetland ecosystems. In this context a detailed study of wetland management and its implications on the socio-economic aspects is required from biological and hydrological perspective.

In Bangalore as in most urban centers environmental pressures on wetlands are created by human activities, by changing land use in the watershed area, pollution from point and non-point sources, soil compaction, loss in interconnectivity and solid waste dumping, etc., all affecting the natural functioning of wetlands. Protecting these wetland's existing functions proves to be incredibly complex as it involves building a partnership among the various agencies, working in a co-ordinated effort in addressing the common goal of minimizing the human-induced changes that affect the hydrology, biogeochemical fluxes and the quality of wetlands. The problems of wetlands in Bangalore can be broadly summarized as,

Wetlands are an integral part of watershed; their position, natural and anthropogenic activities, hydrology, climate, geology of the region and site-specific factors influence their natural functioning. The over exploitation of wetlands in Bangalore in using them as receptacles of untreated sewage, runoff from developed urban and agricultural areas, changing land use within the watershed etc., have resulted in rendering the ecosystem in peril. This deteriorating water quality due to pollution has led to spawning of mosquitoes, due to absence of predators such as Gambusia affinis, killifishes (Fundulus spp.), etc., which prey on mosquito larvae (Buchsbaum, R. 1994). An Integrated Pest Management (IPM) involving bio-regulation approach could possibly control mosquitoes rather than draining wetlands.

GUIDELINES FOR WETLAND MANAGEMENT:

The wetland management program generally involves activities to protect, restore, manipulate, and provide for the functions and values emphasizing both quality and acreage by advocating sustainable usage of them (Walters, C. 1986). Management of wetland ecosystems requires an intense monitoring, increased interaction and co-operation among the various agencies (state departments concerned with environment, soil, natural resource management, public interest groups, citizen groups, agriculture, forestry, urban planning and development, research institutions, government, policy makers, etc). Such management goals should not only involve buffering wetlands from any direct human pressures that could affect the wetlands normal functions, but also in maintaining important natural processes that operate on them that may be altered by human activities. Wetland management has to be an integrated approach in terms of planning, execution and monitoring requiring effective knowledge on a range of subjects from ecology, economics, watershed management, and planners and decision makers, etc. All this would help in understanding wetlands better and evolving a more comprehensive solution for long-term conservation and management strategies.

The management strategies should involve protection of wetlands by regulating inputs using water quality standards (WQS) promulgated for wetlands and such inland surface waters to promote their normal functioning from the ecosystem perspective, still deriving economic benefits by sustainable usage. Urban wetlands provide multiple values for suburban and city dwellers (Castelle, et al., 1994). The capacity of a functional urban wetland in flood control, aquatic life support and as pollution sink implies a greater degree of protection. It provides a resource base for people dependent on them. When dealing with such common resources, some of the important factors to be considered for developing a management strategy for wetlands are:

CREATION OF BUFFER ZONES FOR WETLANDS PROTECTION:

Creating buffer zones limiting anthropogenic activities around the demarcated corridor of the wetland could revive its natural functioning. The criteria for determining adequate buffer size to protect wetlands and other aquatic resources depend on (Castelle et al. 1994):

A fully formed functional In-buffer must consider the magnitude of the identified problems, resource to be protected, and the function it has to perform. Such a buffer zone could be consisting of diverse vegetation along the perimeter of waterbody, preferably an indigenous one serving as trap for sediments, nutrients, metals and other pollutants, reducing human impacts by limiting easy access and acting as a barrier to invasion of weeds and other stress inducing activities (Stockdale, 1991).

COMMUNITY SUPPORT:

Wetland management, restoration or conservation of wetland ecosystem requires an integrated, broad-based inter-agency partnership all working towards a common goal involving the educational institutions, forest department, Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), City Corporation, Irrigation department, Public Works Department (PWD) and Pollution Control Board. The active participation of local community, conservation organisations, NGO's, and citizens' groups with active support from the media at all levels of planning, executing and monitoring is required for implementation of measures to meet the set goals.

SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES:

Wetlands require a collaborated research involving natural, social and inter-disciplinary study aimed at understanding the various components, such as, monitoring of water quality, socio-economic dependency, biodiversity and other activities as an indispensable tool for formulating long term conservation strategies (Kiran et al., 1999). This needs multidisciplinary-trained professionals in educating the essence of wetland importance involving the local school, colleges and research institutions. Initiate educational programs aimed at raising the levels of public awareness and comprehension of aquatic ecosystem restoration goals, and methods.

The active participation from schools and colleges in the vicinity of the waterbodies may value the opportunity for hands-on environmental education further entailing setting up of laboratory facilities at site. Regular monitoring of waterbodies (with permanent laboratory facilities) provides vital inputs for conservation and management.

REGULATORY BODIES:

An interagency regulatory body comprising personnel from departments involved in urban planning (Bangalore Development Agency, Bangalore City Corporation, etc.), resource management (Forest department, Fisheries, Horticulture, Agriculture, etc.), and regulatory bodies such as Pollution Control Board (PCB), local citizen groups, research organisations and NGOs would help in evolving effective wetland programs covering significant components of the watershed, that need co-ordinated effort from all agencies and organisations involved in programs affecting the health of wetland ecosystems directly or indirectly.

RESTORATION:

Restoration means re-establishment of pre-disturbed aquatic functions and the related physical, chemical and biological characteristics (Cairns, 1988; Lewis, 1989) with the objective of emulating natural and a self regulating/perpetuating system that is integrated ecologically with the landscape and the functions the wetlands perform. The goals for any restoration program should be realistic and tailored to individual regions, specific to the problems of degradation and based on the level of dependence. The restoration program should mandate all aspects of the ecosystems, including habitat restoration, elimination of undesirable species and restoration of native species from the ecosystem perspective with holistic approach designed at watershed level, rather than isolated manipulation of individual elements. This often requires reconstruction of the physical conditions; chemical adjustment of both the soil and water; biological manipulation, reintroduction of native flora and fauna, etc.

Restoration goals, objectives, performance indicators (indicates the revival or success of restoration project), monitoring and assessment program should be viably planned, so that, project designers, planners, biologists and evaluators have a clear understanding. Monitoring of restoration endeavour should include both structural (state) and functional (process) attributes. Monitoring of attributes at population, community, ecosystem and landscape level is appropriate in this regard.

Restoration strategy developed in collaboration with the government, researchers, stakeholders at all levels and the NGOs should address the following.

It is deemed important to give priority to repair those systems that would have lost without any form of intervention. A framework is to be developed categorising by the level of interventions required for prioritisation (Committee on Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems et al, 1992) as follows:

CONCLUSION:

Wetland ecosystems are interconnected and interactive within a watershed. In Bangalore the environmental pressure of unplanned urbanisation and growing population has taken its toll of wetlands. The study revealed about 35% decline in the number and loss in the interconnectivity among wetlands disrupting the drainage network and the hydrological regime leading to irreversible (sometimes) changes in wetland quality.

The exploratory survey and physico-chemical and biological characterization of lakes located all over the city show that lakes are polluted mainly due to sewage from domestic and industrial sectors. Detailed quantitative investigations of seven waterbodies (selected based on location and the type of input source) involving physical and chemical parameters and statistical analysis of selected parameters reveal that Kamakshipalya, Yediur, Hebbal and Ulsoor lakes have higher degree of pollution compared to the Sankey and Bannergatta tanks which have no major source of pollution.

The preliminary socio-economic survey carried out in the region surrounding Hebbal lake through Contingency Valuation Method showed high level of dependency on wetlands for ground water, food, fodder, fish, fuel, etc. The high level of dependency on wetlands and its poor quality calls for immediate restoration of degraded lakes and appropriate measures for conservation and management in order to maintain ecological balance in the region.

The restoration program with an ecosystem perspective through Best Management Practices (BMPs) helps in correcting point and non point sources of pollution wherever and whenever possible. This along with regulations and planning for wildlife habitat and fishes helps in arresting the declining water quality and the rate in loss of wetlands. These restoration goals require intensive planning, leadership and funding along with the financial resources and active involvement from all levels of organisation (governmental, NGOs, corporate conglomerates, citizen groups, research organisations, media, etc.) through interagency and intergovernmental processes all made instrumental in initiating and implementing the restoration programs. Various measures including the creation of a Regional Conservation Forum (RCF) represented by a network of educational institutions, researchers, NGO's and the local people are suggested to help restore the already degraded lakes, and conserve those at the brink of death. In order to restore, conserve and manage the fast perishing wetland ecosystem, the need of the hour is to formulate viable plans, policies and management strategies.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

The financial assistance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India is acknowledged. We thank Mrs. Deepa for her assistance in developing GIS database and Mr.Kiran, Ms.Ahalya, N. and Mr.Rajinikanth for their timely assistance in literature review. We are grateful to Dr. B. K. Chakrapani, Dr. M.B.Krishna and Prof. Devashish Kar for useful suggestions.

REFERENCES:

Address:

1. Energy and Wetlands Research Group,
Centre for Ecological Sciences,
Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore 560 012,
India,
E Mail:
cestvr@ces.iisc.ernet.in,
Cestvr@hamsadvani.serc.iisc.ernet.in,
Energy@ces.iisc.ernet.in,
Fax: 91-080-3601428 / 3600683 / 3600085 [CES-TVR],
Tel: 91-080-360 0985 / 309 2506

2. Canada Centre for Inland Waters,
867,
Lakeshore Road,
P.O.Box 5050,
Burlington,
Ontario,
Canada L7R4A6,
E Mail: Raj.murthy@cciw.ca,
Fax: 905-336 6230