Only 26 of these numerous wetlands have been designated as Ramsar Sites (Ramsar, 2013). However, many other wetlands which perform potentially valuable functions are continued to be ignored in the policy process. As a result many freshwater wetlands ecosystems are threatened and many are already degraded and lost due to urbanization, population growth, and increased economic activities (Central Pollution Control Board, 2008). The negative

economic, social, and environmental consequences of declining water quality in wetlands are also an issue of concern for India. The problem of deteriorating water GSK1120212 solubility dmso quality is particularly more alarming in the case of small water bodies such as lakes, tanks and ponds. In the past, these water sources performed several economic (fisheries, livestock and forestry), social (water supply), and ecological functions (groundwater recharge, nutrient recycling, and biodiversity maintenance). Despite all these benefits, many decision-makers and even many of the ‘primary stakeholders’ think of them as ‘wastelands’. Every one claims a stake in them, as they are in the open access regime, but rarely are willing to pay for this extractive use (Verma, 2001). These freshwater R428 clinical trial bodies are often subject to changes in land use in their catchments leading Baricitinib to reduction in inflows

and deteriorating quality of the “runoff” traversing through agricultural fields and urban areas. On the other hand, many of them act as the “sink” for untreated effluents from urban centres and industries. Encroachment of reservoir area for urban development, excessive diversion of water for agriculture is yet another major problem (Verma, 2001). Lack of conformity among government policies in the areas of economics, environment, nature conservation, development planning is one reason for the deterioration of these water bodies (Turner et al., 2000). Lack of good governance and management

are also major reasons (Kumar et al., 2013a). Given this background, the objective of this paper is to review the status of wetlands in India, in terms of their geographic distribution and areal extent; the ecosystem goods and services they provide; various stresses they are being subject to; and the various legal and policy approaches adopted in India for their conservation and management. India, with its varying topography and climatic regimes, supports diverse and unique wetland habitats (Prasad et al., 2002). The available estimates about the areal extent of wetlands in India vary widely from a lowest of 1% to a highest of 5% of geographical area, but do support nearly fifth of the known biodiversity (Space Applications Centre, 2011).