A three-day workshop on training on Integrated Wetlands Management was conducted from 3 – 5 September 2024 at Guwahati, Assam. Shri R. P Singh, IFS (PCCF & HoFF) was the Chief Guest. The workshop was attended by 32 participants from six states (Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha).
The workshop’s objective was to acquaint the participants with knowledge of aquatic ecosystem functioning, management needs, and governance arrangements, enabling a clear understanding of Integrated Wetlands Management Planning aligned with the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems (NPCA) Guidelines and the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017.
Introduction to the Training Workshop and Context Setting by Dr Asghar Nawab, Programme Head – Aquatic Ecology, Wetlands International South Asia.
Six technical sessions were held and training was imparted on understanding the wetlands ecosystem, wetland description and evaluation, wetlands management planning, wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, climate change and its implications for wetlands, and assessing wetlands management effectiveness. A field visit to Deepor Beel was also conducted. Demonstrations on the use of the Rapid Assessment of Wetlands Ecosystem Services (RAWES) Tool and the Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT) were held.
Presentation on Wetlands Description and Evaluation by Mr. Ravi Prakash, Technical Officer- Wetlands Specialist, Wetlands International South Asia.
The training workshop was organized under the Indo-German bilateral cooperation project ‘Protection and Sustainable Management of Aquatic Resources in the North Eastern Himalayan Region of India (NERAQ)’, implemented jointly by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India, with Wetlands International South Asia as a technical partner.
Demonstration of use of Rapid Assessment of Wetlands Ecosystem Services (RAWES) Tool to the workshop participants at Deepor Beel, Guwahati, Assam.