This global concern finds immediate reflection on the ground in Manipur where certain level of conflict of interest arose between State and the Loktak fishing community when the State decided to introduce so-said ‘development’ agendas within the landscape of the freshwater Loktak Lake without prioritizing on the interests and welfare of the local communities, nor scientifically assessing the possible impacts upon the freshwater ecosystem.
By Salam Rajesh
Human society has used freshwater from rivers, lakes, groundwater and wetlands for many different urban, agricultural and industrial activities, but in doing so has overlooked its value in supporting ecosystems. India’s freshwater ecosystems are heavily impacted through multiple factors such as pollution, overexploitation, habitat loss and modification, and climate change. India is also among the hotspots of water resource overuse that has caused a serious decline in the availability of freshwater.
Despite the need to focus on freshwater ecosystem conservation, there is disproportionately less focus on freshwater ecosystems in most conservation laws, policies, and actions. Current methods and land focused strategies are insufficient to safeguard and restore freshwater biodiversity and ecological processes, given their relevance in the broader landscape context. Hence, there is an urgent need for a greater focus on implementing conservation actions for freshwater ecosystems in India, taking into account their integrated nature.
This deliberation is the gist of a recent national level brain-storming session on the relatively significant call for prioritization on conservation of freshwater ecosystems, under the theme: ‘Prioritizing Conservation of Freshwater Ecosystems: Challenges, Shared Vision and Action Areas’.
The deliberation specifically focused on the nomenclature of freshwater ecosystems. In a nutshell, the deliberation was in agreement that “The ecosystems of freshwaters are vital for human life and provide goods and services that are critical for economies and livelihoods of billions of people. India, the second-fastest growing economy and the second largest population in the world, boasts of a rich and vast freshwater network, which has unique ecological, social and economic values associated with it. Freshwater ecosystems form the lifeline of its people, economy, progress and cultural tradition”.
The national level workshop was a first step to bring together an initial group of stakeholders to build upon this foundational statement and shared vision. The idea going forward was to engage with experts, policy makers and other stakeholders to get more input and feedback on this document and the actions they entail.
The outcome of the deliberations is enshrined in the form of a policy document that builds on the Principles of Ecosystem Approach (PEA) as explained by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) of the United Nations. Consequent to this, 12 complementary and interlinked principles are placed in public domain for further perusal by States and the people.
Principle 1 of the PEA states that the objectives of management of land, water and living resources are a matter of societal choices, while the Principle 2 states that ‘Management should be decentralized to the lowest appropriate level’.
Principle 3 of the PEA recommends that ecosystem managers should consider the effects (actual or potential) of their activities on adjacent and other ecosystems, while Principle 4 reaffirms that recognizing potential gains from management, there is usually a need to understand and manage the ecosystem in an economic context.
On a similar note, Principle 5 stresses that ‘Conservation of ecosystem structure and functioning, in order to maintain ecosystem services, should be a priority target of the ecosystem approach. Another priority for this approach is taking into consideration the needs of the larger ecosystem of species and their stake in conserving freshwater ecosystems’.
Principle 6 states that ecosystems must be managed within the limits of their functioning, while the Principle 7 argues that ecosystem approach should be undertaken at the appropriate spatial and temporal scales. The sums of principles 6 and 7 are wrapped up in Principle 8 wherein the document is of the opinion that “Recognizing the varying temporal scales and lag-effects that characterize ecosystem processes, objectives for ecosystem management should be set for the long term”.
Principle 9 outlines that ‘management must recognize the change is inevitable’, while Principle 10 of the PEA stresses that ‘ecosystem approach should seek the appropriate balance between, and integration of, conservation and use of biological diversity’.
Principle 11 basically lays stress on the scientific temperament in ecosystem restoration and conservation wherein its states that ‘ecosystem approach should consider all forms of relevant information, including scientific and indigenous and local knowledge, innovations and practices’.
And finally, Principle 12 of the PEA has the all important message for the world community, wherein it states that “ecosystem approach should involve all relevant sectors of society and scientific disciplines”.
This concluding statement reflects the concerns on the inclusive policy of the States where there usually have been instances of conflicts of interest between States and Indigenous peoples when it comes to unilateral decision of the States to take up ‘development’ schemes that could have large scale impacts negatively on the freshwater ecosystems.
This global concern finds immediate reflection on the ground in Manipur where certain level of conflict of interest arose between State and the Loktak fishing community when the State decided to introduce so-said ‘development’ agendas within the landscape of the freshwater Loktak Lake without prioritizing on the interests and welfare of the local communities, nor scientifically assessing the possible impacts upon the freshwater ecosystem.
The outcome of the national level workshop on prioritizing conservation of freshwater ecosystems briefly defines that the “short-term benefits include ecosystem goods and services, such as food supply, flood control, purification of human and industrial wastes, and habitat for plant and animal life, and these are costly, if not impossible, to replace”.
Further, the “long-term benefits include the sustained provision of those goods and services, as well as the adaptive capacity of freshwater ecosystems to respond to future environmental alterations, such as climate change”.
The vision document thus states that “it is critical that maintenance of the processes and properties that support freshwater ecosystem integrity are included in debates and efforts over sustainable water resource allocation. The urgent need to revive and restore damaged ecosystems has been recognized by the United Nations, with the years between 2021 and 2030 declared as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration”.
The Manipur Government can do well to take a leaf out of this shared vision document to re-think on its policies concerning the freshwater ecosystems in the State and to refrain from taking up projects that can have considerable negative impacts on water bodies that can sustain life for humans and the animal world.
(The writer is a media professional working on environmental issues. He can be reached at [email protected])