In 2018, Wetlands International South Asia and the Center for Water Resources Development and Management formulated integrated management plans for three Ramsar Sites of Kerala, namely Sasthamkotta, Ashtamudi, and Vembanad-Kol. The three plans were approved for implementation by the state government last year. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, under its National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems, provided its share of grants for the implementation of the management action plans in the current financial year.
A meeting was held by State Wetlands Authority Kerala, the nodal agency for managing wetlands in the state, for discussing monitoring and capacity development arrangements. In the day-long meeting held on August 5, 2019, Dr Ritesh Kumar, Director, Wetlands International South Asia elaborated steps for systematic monitoring of the wetland system and the management plan implementation. The implications for implementing the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 were also discussed at length. A road-map for conducting structured capacity development of various line departments engaged in management plan implementation was elucidated.
Dr Ritesh Kumar discussing management plan monitoring with officials of SWAK