Читать книгу Pollutants and Water Management - Группа авторов - Страница 39

Wetlands have been the center‐stage of research since 1971, after the first international convention on wetlands, popularly called the Ramsar Convention. Different studies have revealed that wetlands have a significant contribution to biodiversity, microbial biogeochemistry, nutrient cycling, greenhouse gas emission, and safeguarding natural and anthropogenic hazards (Dobermann et al. 1996; Craft and Casey 2000; Mathew et al. 2002; Chandra et al. 2009; Tiner 2009; Prusty et al. 2010; Nasir and Harikumar 2011; Niraula 2012; Mohan et al. 2013; Giri and Singh 2014; Singh and Jayakumar 2015).

Several studies have been conducted on the Kanwar wetland since it was notified as a protected area in 1986 and the status of water quality, aquatic flora and fauna, and the socio‐economy of the dependent population were documented (Singh and Roy 1989, 1990a, b, 1991a, b; Rakshi and Sanghi 1996). Later, the land use land cover (LULC) dynamics, resource inventory and socio‐economy, contamination status of water, soil/sediments, and vegetation were estimated in different research studies (Ghosh et al. 2004; Ambastha et al. 2007a, b; Roy et al. 2008; Shardendu et al. 2012; Anand and Joshi 2013; Kumar 2013a; Singh and Jayakumar 2015, 2016, 2017; Singh et al. 2018). All these studies were conducted to meet their specific objectives and indicated the degrading status of the wetland. The total avifauna population visiting the site was reported to have decreased by 56.63%, including 69.49% of migratory birds and 53.27% of residential birds in 2011, as compared with 2002. Approximately, 3961 ha (62.8%) of the notified land area of the wildlife sanctuary is under dispute between the administration and the local population. Only 2350 ha (37.2%) of the sanctuary area is undisputed as per the forest range officer of Begusarai district. The wetland area supports the livelihoods of a large population, and the increasing human population around this wetland and their encroachments have posed serious challenges for both ecological diversity and quality of resources. These studies have also indicated the degradation of wetland status and suggested an inclusive research approach for the conservation and management of this wetland. In the past one and half decades, the wetland has been under severe threat of degradation due to heavy siltation, water shortage, invasive weeds, and anthropogenic encroachments including illegal land acquisition, agriculture, bird trapping, cattle grazing, tree harvesting, waste dumping, and the establishment of small‐scale industries like a brick kiln in and around the sanctuary.

As it is one of the more remotely located wetlands of national importance, not only does it support huge natural biodiversity, it also influences local hydrology, weather, and the socio‐economy of the inhabiting population. However, this wetland still only has a limited number of scientific studies, which is an indication that it has not been given much attention by the scientific community for its proper monitoring and conservation. Therefore, this work was conducted to identify the key factors that adversely affect the wetland, as well as human health and the societal status of this area. This study is also aimed to find solutions for the identified factors.