Stakeholder Workshops on Wetland Assessments and Climate Risk Assessment for Integrated Wetland Management

28 Feb, 2021

As a step towards development of integrated management plans for the Ramsar sites, hydro-ecological and livelihood assessments were conducted at the four pilot sites. These assessments have concluded at Pong Dam Lake and Renuka Ji Lake in Himachal Pradesh, and Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu. As a part of these assessments a series of stakeholder workshops are being organised to present the outcomes and recommendations of these studies. Following workshops were organised by the assessment agencies, both on-ground and virtually with participation from respective State Wetland Authorities, site managers, experts, Wetlands International South Asia (WISA) and the GIZ project team. Various other stakeholders including Water Resources Department, Renuka Ashram, Tourism, Fisheries, Agriculture, Salt and Aquaculture Associations, Panchayats and other community members from the respective sites, participated in these workshops.

• Hydro-ecological assessment for integrated management of Bhitarkanika Ramsar site, Odisha by Chilika Development Authority on 16^th December 2020
• Hydro-geological, and ecosystem services and livelihood assessment of Renuka ji Ramsar site by Advanced Center for Water Resources Development and Management (ACWADAM), People’s Science Institute (PSI), and IIT Roorkee on 28^th January 2021
• Hydro-ecological assessment for integrated management of Point Calimere Ramsar site by Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences (KITS) on 29^th January 2021
• Assessment and management of fisheries resources of Pong reservoir, Himachal Pradesh by Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI) on 19^th February 2021

The stakeholders provided their inputs and feedback in these workshops. The capacities to implement the proposed recommendations and potential institutional arrangements were also discussed in these workshops. The results of these assessments are being used for preparation of integrated management plans.

Climate Risk Assessment for integrated wetland management

As a step towards development of integrated management plan, climate risk assessment at the project Ramsar sites including Renuka Lake, Pong Dam Reservoir, Bhitarkanika mangroves and Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary, is being conducted by International Centre for Environmental Management (ICEM) in collaboration with regional teams. The regional assessment team includes Devopsys for Himachal Pradesh, Regional Centre for Development Cooperation (RCDC) for Odisha and MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) for Tamil Nadu. The main objectives of the assessment include - identification and prioritisation of climate change related risks, recommendation of measures that can help reduce the vulnerability of wetlands to changing climate, and capacity building of decision makers and stakeholders on understanding the climate risks and adaptation options. An inception meeting for climate risk assessment was organised by ICEM on 20^th January 2021 for introducing the assessment objectives, and assessment workplan and schedule to site managers and respective State Wetland Authorities and regional assessment agencies. This meeting helped in understanding the requirements of the site managers and outlining their support in identification of key assets for assessments at each site.

This was followed by expert exchange sessions on the methodology for climate risk assessment and adaptation planning for four Ramsar sites, on 4^th and 5^th February 2021 by ICEM. The regional assessment team along with Odisha Climate Change Cell, Chilika Development Authority (CDA), Wetlands International South Asia (WISA) and the GIZ project team participated in these sessions. These sessions focussed on explaining the concept of climate change assessment of natural areas, identification of priority assets and describing climate change threats and opportunities. The discussions helped in clarifying the approach for the assessment and conducting adaptation planning.

*

About the project

The Wetlands Management for Biodiversity and Climate Protection project aims to strengthen the institutional framework and capacities for an ecosystem-based integrated management of wetlands of international importance (Ramsar sites) in India. Four Ramsar sites have been selected as pilot sites under the project: Pong Dam and Renuka Lake in Himachal Pradesh, Bhitarkanika Mangroves in Odisha, and the Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu. The project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in close cooperation with the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems (NPCA). This project is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag. Read More

For more information contact: biodiv.india@giz.de