A workshop on Ecological Characterisation of Two Wetlands in Gujarat

28 Sep, 2016

The Conservation and Sustainable Management of Coastal and Marine Protected Areas (CMPA) project is facilitating baseline studies for the development and consolidation of socio-economic and ecological information for two wetlands in Gujarat- Khijadiya Wildlife Sanctuary Jamnagar, and Gosabara- Mokar wetland Porbandar. The purpose of these baseline studies is to inform the wetland management plans in line with the principles adopted by the Ramsar Convention on Wetland.

Dr. J.A. Khan, Chief Wildlife Warden provided guidance on the topic, while inaugurating the workshop on ecological characterisation of Wetlands

The wetland management plans will be based on global good practices and keeping in mind the existing and future biodiversity issues related to habitat change, invasive species, climate change, natural disasters, livelihood issues etc. The CMPA project is facilitating involvement of International, National and local experts, as well as local community in this process. The first set of baseline information on floral, faunal, awareness, and socio-economic aspects of these wetlands has been compiled under the project, and provides fairly holistic information on the wetlands.

To utilise the available baseline information, together with the expertise and experiences available with the scientific experts, wetlands managers and decision-makers to deepen understanding on the issue, a one-day workshop on ecological characterisation was organised on 28 September, 2016, at GEER foundation, from 11 am - 3 pm.

The primary aim of the workshop was to define the ecological character and management strategies that can be used as a basis of ensuring wise use of the two wetlands.

Ecological character is the sum of ecological components, processes and services that characterise the wetland at any given point in time. Assessment and reporting on ecological character and ecological character change provide the basis of understanding the state of wetlands, thereby informing policy development and priority setting.

In pictures, (left) Dr. Ritesh Kumar in discussion with participants. (right) Dr. Neeraj Khera during the working group discussion on ecological characterisation of two Wetlands in Gujarat

The workshop was facilitated by Dr. Ritesh Kumar from Wetlands International South Asia and Dr. Neeraj Khera, CMPA project GIZ. There was active participation of key forest department officials from the State including the Chief Wildlife Warden, Director- GEER Foundation, Director of Khijadiya Wildlife Sanctuary, DCF of Porbandar, scientific experts on floral and faunal aspects of biodiversity, hydrology, socio-economic aspects of wetlands, and team members of Gujarat team of CMPA project, Wetlands International and GEER Foundation.

The work achieved the following outputs:

• Common understanding of management objectives.
• Helped define a feasible ecosystem state and livelihoods interlinkages commensurate with management objectives, and identify tradeoffs if any.
• Prioritised ecological character elements, in line with management objectives and assessment findings.
• Identified limits of acceptable change to ecological character.
• Assessed threats and the risk of adverse change in ecological character.
• Identified management needs.

The results of the workshop are being documented elaborating the prioritised ecological characters of the wetlands and a detailed monitoring plan to support management plan. It was agreed upon in the workshop that the document can supplement the existing management plan of Khijadiya Wildlife Sanctuary as an action plan.