Wetlands conservation : current challenges and future strategies /
edited by Sanjeev Sharma, Pardeep Singh.
- 1 online resource.
"The Wetlands are a crucial part of the ecological system and the storehouse of numerous ecosystem services that provide humanity's well-being and preserve the natural ecological system. Wetlands manage the hydrological process and track the ecological environment. These wetland systems are classified differently at the global level based on their origin, use, hydrology, composition, water level, wetland physical and chemical characteristics. These wetland systems are important for the survival and environmental stability of humans. Since the beginning of human civilization on this planet Earth, wetlands have become the lifeline of civilizations. Often along and in the outskirts of wetlands, cultures have grown. This precious wetland environment's economic interests are not yet recognised at the global and regional level by policymakers and decision-makers. These wetlands are distributed in all climate zones in the geographical and climatic setting, from the tropics to the tundra regions. It is the World's most efficient and important ecosystem. As recorded by Davidson et al., the largest wetland areas in 2018 are Asia (32% of the global area), North America (27%) and Latin America and the Caribbean (16%), Europe's wetland areas (13%), Africa (10%) and Oceania (10%). At present, 2414 wetland sites of international significance covering 254543972 ha are internationally important at the country and humanity level. Many wetlands have been destroyed and impaired by rapid agriculture and urbanisation in North America and Europe, including the extinction of most floodplain areas. Increasing pressure on water supplies is also a very dominant factor responsible for wetland destruction in various regions at global and local levels due to population pressure, land use cover changes, global warming and climate change, and lack of legislation and governance. The current section of the book highlights global wetlands, categorization and status. Threats and mitigation initiatives are also proposed for wetland habitat conservation in this chapter."--
About the Author Dr Sanjeev Sharma has been teaching as an Assistant Professor in the Centre for Study of Regional Development, School of Social Science and Concurrent Faculty in the Special Centre for E-Learning at Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi-India. He is also Assistant Director, UGC-HRDC-JNU, New Delhi. Over the past one and half decades he has worked in different academic and research institute viz. Dr. H.S. Gour Central University of Sagar, IISER, Mohali, WWF-India and G. B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (NIHE). He has done M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. (HPU, Shimla) Post Doctorate (IISER, Mohali) and PG Diploma in Environmental Law and Policy (NLU, Delhi). His research expertise in human ecology; wetlands conservation; environmental impact assessment & management; policy planning and nature conservation; science society and nature study etc. He was awarded first Dr. Saminderjeet Singh Young Geographers National Awrard for 2011 by Association of Punjab Geographers, Post Doc. Fellow from UGC & IISER, Mohali and UNESCO-IHE Fellowship. Presently he is an External Expert Member in the Himachal Pradesh State Wetlands Authority, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh. He has more than 35 international and national publications to his credit.
Dr Pardeep Singh is presently working as an Assistant Professor (Department of Environmental Science, PGDAV College, University of Delhi New Delhi India). He obtained his Masters degree from Department of Environmental Science Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi India and doctorate from Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University) Varanasi. He has published more than 65 papers in the international journals in the fields of various environmental emerging issues. He has edited more than 30 books with various international publishers like Springer, Elsevier, CRC and Wiley.