Integrated Management of Point Calimere Ramsar Site – Current Staus, Trends and Challenges

27 Aug, 2019

Point Calimere wetland complex is a mosaic of tropical dry evergreen forest, mangroves, mudflats, lagoon, creeks, and streams, etc. in the state of Tamil Nadu. The coastal wetland, also a Ramsar site, provides a range of ecosystem services supporting bird habitats, fisheries, salt production, aquaculture, agriculture and storm protection in the region. Increasing salinity and degradtion of bird habitats in the coastal region have attracted a lot of media attention over last few years.

A two-day workshop on ‘Integrated management of Point Calimere Ramsar site’, jointly organised with Tamil Nadu Forest Department in Nagapattinam on 26-27 August 2019 helped in establishing the main features of the wetland, observe changes over past 2-3 decades, drivers of change and knowledge gaps in terms of the extent and land use, catchment and hydrology, biodiversity and ecosystem services, livelihood dependence and stakeholders and governance. Changes in freshwater as well as tidal flows in Point Calimere were identified as the main drivers of change for the wetland ecosystem, largely attributed to the decline in release of Cauvery water from Mettur dam, encroachment of drainage canals, frequent cyclones and altered rainfall pattern. Expansion of aquaculture farms, intensification of salt production and over-extraction of groundwater have also led to an increase in salinity in the area. Restoration of hydrological flows, with active engament of all the stakeholders would be an effective management intervention for conserving and ensuring wise of Point Calimere Wetland Complex.

The workshop brought together Forest Department officials, the district wetland committee, scientific experts, and other sectoral departments to discuss the challenges and opportunities for integrated management of Point Calimere.