Public participation in saving wetlands mooted

Visakhapatnam: With a purpose to develop and conserve wetlands, the first meeting of Kondakarla Ava wetland management committee was held at Anakapalli collectorate.

Chaired by Collector Ravi Subhash Pattenshetti and co-chaired and convened by district forest officer (DFO) Anant Shankar in the presence of officials from agriculture, horticulture, irrigation, education, fisheries departments, the discussion at the meeting focused on Kondakarla Ava wetlands, its history, uniqueness and challenges involved in protecting it along with the threats faced.

As a part of the meeting, the DFO put forward the proposal of constitution of Kondakarla Ava Mitra for the registration of volunteers from the society, public institutions and private organisations. Also, a mobile-based application was proposed which can be used for registering as Kondakarla Ava Mitra, monitoring of physical, biological and chemical parameters of the lake using remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS).

The initiative, once developed, will be unique in terms of involvement and engagement of the public in wetland conservation and development and for dissemination of information about the wetlands' health and characteristics.

The DFO explained its importance and priority activity of taking up plantations with coconut and forest trees species along the periphery of the wetland as they will help in stabilising the lake boundary, its proper demarcation as well as providing usufructs to local communities.

Anakapalli collector responded positively to the proposals and requested for submission of proposals.

The committee further discussed different works that can be taken up in relation to tourism development, beautification and conservation of the second largest freshwater wetland in Andhra Pradesh.

The committee stressed on the participative management of the lake with active involvement of local communities and the need to ensure equal opportunities to all the nearby habitations.

Expert member Raja Bandi from IISER, Tirupati, discussed citizen science initiatives on engagement of citizens. The focus is also on starting a long term data collection so as to ensure effective conservation of the wetland.