APSCC is organizing a Drawing Competition for students on “Wetlands & Water” marking this years theme on World Wetlands Day.
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Green Protocol for Wetlands
The Vice-Chancellor of Pondicherry University, Prof. Gurmeet Singh, and the Deputy Conservator of Forests and Wildlife, Smt. Vanjulavalli Sridhar, IFS, jointly launched the ‘Green Protocol for Wetlands’, in the presence of Dr. Ramakichenin Balagandhi, Director, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Prof. S. Balakrishnan, Director Studies, Pondicherry University; Dr. B. Chitra, Registrar, Pondicherry University; Prof. K. V. Devi Prasad, Dean, School of Life Sciences; Dr. Golda Edwin, Executive Director, APSCC; Prof. A. Shahin Sultana, Dean, Students Welfare; Prof. R. Nalini, HoD, Department of Social Work; Er. N. Sankaramourthy, Executive Engineer; and Dr. M. Nandhivarman, Coordinator, Office of Green Campus, Pondicherry University.
Launch of ‘Green Protocol for Wetlands’ grouped under five heads
Strategies for Wetland Rehabilitation
Community Participation
Storm Water Drain Management
Approach for Buffer Zone Sustainability
Action Plan for the Water Body
The purpose of the launch is to catalyze the students and the community, jointly to work for the sustenance of the wetlands. The protocol was drafted on the platform of basic conservation ideas to raise awareness and to participate in the protection of this dwindling resource.
Further to sensitize and create awareness among the ‘Mitras’, Thiru. Rudra Goud, Director, Department of School Education, is jointly organizing a ‘Drawing Competition’ in all the 400+ Public Schools reaching over 4500 participants, under the wetland day theme of ‘wetlands and water’. Besides, to catalyze the ‘Wetlands Mitras’ (or) ‘wetlands friends’, a wetland conservation network is also planned for the ‘transformation’ of the students and community – climate change perspective.
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World Wetland Day 2021 Celebration
The ‘World Wetlands Day 2021’ and the ‘50th Anniversary of the Ramsar Convention’, is celebrated at Pondicherry University, in partnership with the Department of Forests and Wildlife, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Department of School Education, and the Association for Promoting Sustainability in Campuses and Communities. The event helped reinforce the importance of wetlands in conjunction with the theme “Water, Wetlands, and Life: Inseparable.”
Wetlands consist of a high level of diversity in plants and animals thereby providing a wide range of ecosystem services and in fact, are a major source of water and the principal place from which major Indian cities receive their freshwater. To conserve this vital component of the ecosystem, an international agreement Ramsar Convention was commissioned in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and came into force in 1975. Since then, nearly 90% of UN member states, from all the world’s geographic regions, have acceded to become “Contracting Parties”, and the convention entered into force in India on 1st February 1982.
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands provides the framework for the ‘conservation and wise use of wetlands’. To date, the Convention has 171 Contracting Parties and 2,414 Wetlands of International Importance. The good news is that 10 more wetland sites of ‘international importance’ from India have been added to the Ramsar Convention by 2020 and 5 more since 2020, reaching a total of 42 sites designated as ‘Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites), with a surface area of 1,081,438 hectares.
Globally, at a time when the ecological importance had triggered the conservation of wetlands as a priority issue, India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has notified Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. More recently, the MoEF&CC promoted the enlistment of ‘Wetland Mitras’ i.e. ‘Wetlands Friends’ necessitating public participation which is one of the focus of this event.
According to FAO, soil is a natural body consisting of layers (soil horizons) that are composed of weathered mineral materials, organic material, air and water, forming a natural medium for the growth of plants. It is an essential component of ‘Land’ and ‘Eco-systems’ encompassing vegetation, water and climate in the case of land, whereas social and economic considerations including land parts in the case of ecosystems. The word ‘soil’ is also known as ‘dirt’, ‘waste’ or ‘earth’.
Topsoil has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and it is where most of the ‘Earth’s Biological Soil Activity’ occurs. Soil organisms are categorized into microbiota, mesobiota, and macrofauna, which include species such as earthworms, millipedes, centipedes, bees, coleoptera (adults and larvae), isopoda, spiders, slugs, snails, termites, ants, dermaptera, larvae of Lepidoptera and larvae of Diptera, etc. The stability of the soil food web increases with an increasing number of organism interactions. Soil macrofauna’s biological activities regulate significantly soil processes and soil fertility.
To overcome the challenges caused by anthropogenic activities and to bring about a change towards restoring the soil ecology, a students and public centered program titled ‘Pollution Prevention, Topsoil Ecology & Ecosystem Restoration, for Soil Sustenance and Organic Food Production’, was conceptualized. In reaching out to millions, to bring out the ‘Transformative Change’ for common good, the consortia of organizations: Pondicherry University; Government of Puducherry – Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Department of Wildlife and Forest; Directorate of School Education; and the Association for Promoting Sustainability in Campuses and Communities (APSCC) as the lead organization (official partner of UN FAO-Global Soil Partnership) have joined hands for this need of the hour initiative on soil sustainability.
For more details, download the concept note here: Topsoil Ecology Restoration
To become part of the network, complete google form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSejr1sHiaINpZ3K8-QLtWjNvYvqInfJo70GQ8tWGsvzXa98_w/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1
India is a diverse country rich in biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge. In this century, ecosystems are either being fragmented or eliminated, and the extinction of several species has increased dramatically because of human activities. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change indicates that the fragmentation, degradation, and loss of habitats are irreversible and pose a serious threat to biological diversity, harming our wellbeing. Hence, conservation of biodiversity is, therefore, a national priority Besides, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (ISPBES), France also highlighted the undeniable fact: “Ecosystems, species, wild populations, local varieties, and breeds of domesticated plants and animals are shrinking, deteriorating, or vanishing. The essential, interconnected web of life on Earth is getting smaller and increasingly frayed. Around 1,000,000 species are threatened with extinction. This loss is a direct result of human activity and constitutes a direct threat to human well-being in all regions of the world. Since the current global response to counter is insufficient, ‘Transformative Changes’ are mandated to restore and protect nature, for the public good”
Against this backdrop, to complement the struggling global response to protect and conserve the species that are threatened with Illegal poaching, trafficking, and extinction, a ‘Transformative Change’ is necessitated for ‘broad-based action’. To establish such a change to restore and protect the world’s ‘natural capital’ for common good, the consortia of organizations: Pondicherry University; Government of Puducherry Departments like the Department of Wildlife and Forest, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Directorate of School Education, and the Association for Promoting Sustainability in Campuses and Communities (official partner of the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity) as the lead organization, joined hands in reaching out to millions, to bring out the ‘Transformative Change’, through the students and the public centered program ‘Fauna Protection and Conservation’, fostering the themes of the UN Decade on Biodiversity 2011-2020 – ‘Living in Harmony with Nature’ and 2021-2030 – ‘Ecosystem Restoration’.
As part of the 1st Phase of this initiative, the ‘faunas of concern’ were identified and strategies evolved based on the Aichi Biodiversity Targets 11, 12, & 13 of the Strategic Goal – C. Choice-based, ‘student and public centered conservation network’ is identified as a tool, to conserve multiple faunas of concern like Peacock (sp. Pavo cristatus), Indian Grey Mongoose (sp. Herpestes edwardsi), Olive Ridley Turtle (sp. Lepidochelys olivacea), Monitor Lizard (sp. Varanus bengalensis), Bee (sp. Apis cerana indica), Pondicherry Shark (sp. Carcharhinus hemiodon), House Sparrow (sp. Passer domesticus), & Indian Spectacled Cobra (sp. Naja naja). In addition to these species, ‘Wetland’ was also included in the conservation networks as it is one of the significant habitats for the diverse nature of species.
For more details, download the concept note here: WildlifeConservationNetwork
To become part of the network, complete google form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdHiD40iJOixrHfdV8uJpzZdIHcVp0UZxNp9ySY6ES4DTw0cg/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1