Workshop for Field Staff at Renuka Wetland

21 Nov, 2021

Assessing the hydrogeological layout of any wetland is an important tool in generating a profile of its hydrological and ecological functioning and in turn, recommending management measures. A Hydrogeological Assessment for Renuka Ji weltand, a Ramsar site located in Himachal Pradesh, was carried out jointly with Advanced Center for WAter resources Development And Management (ACWADAM), Indian Institute of Technology(IIT) - Roorkee and People’s Science Institute (PSI).

A workshop on hydrogeological management was organised by the project at Renuka Ji lake on 21 October 2021 along with the field staff, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) and the hydrology experts.

Mr Ravi Shankar, DFO (Wildlife) Shimla, opened the workshop and spoke about the need for field-level learning. Mr Rajesh and Mr Iqbal from PSI presented the major results along with the emerging recommendations on soil and moisture conservation measures. Methodologies of simple field-based monitoring measures were also presented. It was followed by a lively discussion with the field staff who provided their inputs, observations and queries. Protocol manuals for water quality and soil and conservation measures were also shared with the field staff in Hindi and English.

A field visit was conducted to some of the key areas in the catchment such as the area in the north-eastern edge contributing to majority of the silt load to observe and discuss suitable engineering measures to curb silt flow into the wetland. Field demonstrations such as calculating spring inflow and slope angles with minimal tools were also carried out for the field staff.

Field demonstrations for Renuka field staff ©GIZ/Shambhavi Krishna

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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