AMRIT
DHAROHAR INITIATIVE - ENVIRONMENT
News:
Wetland ‘nature tourism’
gets a fillip
What's
in the news?
●
The Central government has embarked on a mission to promote tourism at
ecologically-sensitive wetlands better known as Ramsar sites like Odisha’s
Chilika lake and Haryana’s Sultanpur bird sanctuary.
Key
takeaways:
●
The focus would be to shift these fragile wetlands from high-value tourism to nature tourism by
directly supporting conservation action and letting local communities and
economies take the lead.
Amrit
Dharohar Initiative:
●
It emphasises on the importance of
wetlands and their preservation, with an outlook that is inclusive of local communities as caretakers of the ecosystem.
●
It was announced in the Union Budget
2023-24 and was launched in June, 2023.
Nodal
Ministry - Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate
Change (MoEFCC)
Aim:
●
To promote unique conservation values of the Ramsar Sites in the country while
generating employment opportunities and supporting local livelihoods.
Components
of the Scheme:
●
Species and Habitat Conservation
●
Nature Tourism
●
Wetlands Livelihoods
●
Wetlands Carbon
The Nature Tourism and Wetland Component of Amrit Dharohar initiative
is being implemented jointly by the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Five
Priority Sites:
Sites identified in the
first phase by Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Environment, Forest &
Climate Change for taking up training programmes for local communities under
the Alternative Livelihood Programme (ALP) are
●
Sultanpur
Lake, Haryana
●
Bhitarkanika
Mangroves, Odisha
●
Chilika
Lake, Odisha
●
Yashwant
Sagar Lake, Madhya Pradesh
●
Sirpur
Wetlands, Madhya Pradesh
Implementation:
●
The scheme is being implemented in
convergence with various Central Government Ministries and Agencies, State
Wetland Authorities and a network of formal and informal institutions.
Significance:
●
It aims to encourage optimal use of
wetlands, and enhance bio-diversity, carbon stock, etc.
●
It will strengthen nature tourism at these
sites and provide alternative livelihood to the local community.
Go
back to basics:
Ramsar
Site:
●
A Ramsar site is a wetland designated to be of international importance under an
environmental treaty signed in February 1971 at Ramsar, Iran under the auspices
of UNESCO.
●
Ramsar identifies wetlands of
international importance, especially those providing waterfowl habitat. It
provides for national action and
international cooperation regarding the conservation of wetlands, and wise
sustainable use of their resources.
Ramsar
Sites in India:
●
India
has 75 Ramsar sites.
●
Odisha’s Chilika Lake and Bhitarkanika
Mangroves, West Bengal’s Sundarbans, Chitrangudi Bird Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu
are some of the well-known Ramsar sites in India.
Further
Reference - Ramsar Sites in India