Wetlands – refuge to existence

“Civilizations began around wetlands; today's civilization has every reason to leave them wet and wild.”⁽¹⁾ Water holds a special place of priority in the list of natural resources due to its strong linkages with the life supporting activities. The mobility of water makes it capable of leaving a visible impact on land, climate, whether, resources and productivity. The hydrological cycle is an example.

Shortage of water is a risk-multiplier. It has the potential to take all the other critical issues we face as a global community and transform their severity into a catastrophe. Reducing poverty, increasing food production, combating terrorism and sustaining economic development are all vital priorities, but it is increasingly clear how rapid depletion of water will make them even more difficult to address.

Furthermore, because water is intimately connected with our systemic, unsustainable consumption of natural resources, any decline in the ecological resilience of one resource base or ecosystem increases the fragility of the whole.

The concept discussed in the paper has originated from the fact that water, energy and food are interdependent. It is these three elements which together have the capacity to ensure sustenance of any economy and its sustainable development. With Green Economy as mantra today the paper aims to reveal the multi facet qualities of water in the form of wetlands. It aims to address the problems faced to sustain and conserve wetlands. It plans to bring forward and portray water conservation or wetland construction as a tool for poverty alleviation and upliftment of the life prevailing on earth.

Previous research done in the related fields will be studied to support the concept. Linkages of water with infrastructure/townships, health, food/agriculture and energy will be established with the help of secondary data. Strategies for building sustainable and self sufficient infrastructure will be proposed and discussed.

Population increase will combine with other transformational changes, particularly in low-income countries as rising numbers of people move from rural areas to cities that will need to be serviced with food, water and energy. Half the world's population now lives in urban environments, a figure projected to rise to 60% by 2030⁽²⁾. It is estimated that there will be 26 cities with more than 10 million inhabitants in 2025, up from 19 today. Five of these new ‘megacities’ will be in Asia⁽³⁾. The study makes an attempt to address this concern by proposing methods to increase the per capita income of those near and below poverty line and thus eliminate the disparities. “Water and land are two sides of the same coin! – a land should also be considered in the nexus!”, said Dr. Holzwarth. Thus the paper proposes the use of wasteland and waste waters to increase economic efficiency. Innovations for the same will be studied and modified as per the scenario of India.

The implications of the proposals will be laid down in non – monetary terms. Future prospects of these plans and proposals will also be mentioned. The cycle of interdependence will be monitored and the concept of inclusive growth will be realized through the Water Economy.

“Greater familiarity with marshes on the part of more people could give man a truer and more wholesome view of himself in relation to nature. In marshes, Life's undercurrents and unknowns and evolutionary changes are exemplified with a high degree of independence from human dominance as long as the marshes remain in the marshy condition. Marshes comprise their own form of wilderness. They have their own life-rich genuineness and reflect forces that are much older, much more permanent and much mightier than man.⁽⁴⁾”