Wetlands not astelands !
Nalaka Gunawardene and Vindana Ariyawansa
World Wetlands Day is observed every year on February 2. It marks the
date of adopting a global treaty on wetlands 40 years ago, on February
2, 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of Caspian Sea.
Each year since 1997, government agencies, conservation organisations
and citizen groups around the world have used this anniversary to
undertake actions aimed at raising public awareness of wetland values
and benefits in general – and of the Ramsar Convention in particular.
 Bordering between dry land and total water, wetlands are one of
Nature’s most productive regions, and home to a high number of plant and
animal species. Covering about 6 per cent of the Earth’s surface,
wetland types include swamps, marshes, lakes, salt marshes, mudflats,
mangroves, coral reefs, fens, peat bogs, and other bodies of water –
whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary. Water within
these areas may be static or flowing; fresh, brackish or saline; and can
include inland rivers and coastal or marine water to a depth of six
metres at low tide. There are even underground wetlands.
Today, we explore this fascinating world of wetlands.
1. Ramsar Convention is an inter-governmental treaty that embodies
the commitments of its member countries to maintain the ecological
character of their Wetlands of International Importance, and to plan for
the “wise use”, or sustainable use, of all of the wetlands in their
territories. Unlike the other global environmental conventions, Ramsar
is not affiliated with the United Nations system of Multilateral
Environmental Agreements, but it works closely with the other treaties.
What is the full name of this Convention, which came into force on 21
December 1975?
 2. Ramsar being an inter-governmental treaty, it is open for
countries of the world to join at official level. Countries signing and
ratifying the treaty are known as ‘contracting parties’. As the Ramsar
Convention completes 40 years, it has been joined by 160 countries of
the world.
While Sri Lanka signed the convention in its early years, in which
year did Sri Lanka ratify and thus formally become a party to the Ramsar
Convention?
3. Going by the Ramsar definition, the wetlands of Sri Lanka can be
divided into three broad categories. First category is inland natural
fresh water wetlands such as rivers, stream, marshes, swamp forests and
villus. Second category is marine and salt water wetlands which includes
lagoons, estuaries, mangroves, sea grass beds and coral reefs.
What is the third category of wetlands we have in Sri Lanka?
4. Each Contracting Party to the Ramsar Convention designates an
‘implementing agency’ or national focal point within its government to
take national responsibility for the affairs of the Convention.
Which government department in Sri Lanka is serving as national focal
point for Ramsar?
5. The Ramsar Convention encourages the designation of sites
containing representative, rare or unique wetlands, or wetlands that are
important for conserving biological diversity. Countries joining the
Convention can propose their wetlands meeting at least one of nine
criteria. Nomination then goes through a rigorous review process. Once
designated, these sites are added to the Ramsar Convention’s Global List
of Wetlands of International Importance, and become known as ‘Ramsar
sites’.
 In 40 years, up to January 2011, how many such Ramsar sites have been
designated in 160 countries?
6. Since 1990, Sri Lanka has successfully designated 4 sites as
Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance, which between them cover a
total surface area of 13, 361 hectares. The country’s first Ramsar site,
designated in 1990, is located 245 km southeast of Colombo, close to
Hambantota, on the Matara-Kataragama main road.
A wildlife sanctuary from 1969, it was later upgraded to a National
Park and consists of a diversity of coastal habitats including brackish
lagoons, salt pans, marshes, thorny scrub lands, sand dunes, forests and
dry grasslands.
What is this important wetland, which forms a significant part of the
fly-way taken by migratory waterbirds who travel to Sri Lanka every year
for the winter?
7. Sri Lanka’s second Ramsar site, designated in 2001, is the
Annaiwilundawa Tanks Sanctuary, which contains an ancient system of
human-made cascading tanks or reservoirs, ranging between 12 and 50
hectares each and totalling some 200 hectares. Dating back to the 12th
Century, these help to sustain traditional paddy fields as well as
islets of natural vegetation. This wetland is home to some species of
threatened fish, amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles and harbours up
to 40 percent of the vertebrate species found in Sri Lanka.
In which Province is the Annaiwilundawa Tanks Sanctuary located?
8. Sri Lanka’s third Ramsar site, Maduganga, was designated in 2003.
Located in the Southern Province, this is a mangrove lagoon joined to
the sea by a narrow canal and containing 15 islands of various sizes,
some of which are inhabited. The Maduganga system is formed by two
shallow water bodies, Maduganga and smaller Randombe Lake, connected by
two narrow channels. At what southern coastal location does the
Maduganga enter the sea?
9. Sri Lanka’s fourth and latest Ramsar site was designated only
recently, and covers an area of 4,839 hectares. Located on the
North-Western coastal belt of Sri Lanka within the District of Mannar,
it consists of several ecosystems which range from arid-zone thorn
scrubland, arid-zone pastures and maritime grasslands, sand dunes,
mangroves, salt marshes, lagoons, tidal flats, sea-grass beds and
shallow marine areas.
What is this latest Ramsar site in Sri Lanka called?
10. Naturally-functioning wetlands provide a range of benefits and
services. Some are a source of food and fibre (from plants and marine
creatures) and raw materials for various industries. Less evidently,
they also provide water purification and replenish groundwater supply,
and protect or buffer human settlements from floods, storms and coastal
erosion.
People turn to many wetlands for aesthetic, cultural and recreational
purposes. Environmental economists have recently estimated these free
benefits to add up to trillions of dollars worldwide.
 What is the collective term for benefits people obtain from
ecosystems?
11. Half of the world’s wetlands have been destroyed over the last
100 years, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Among the
major threats to wetlands everywhere are: conversion of swamps, marshes,
lakes and floodplains for commercial development; drainage schemes;
extraction of minerals and peat; overfishing; indiscriminate tourism
development; siltation; pesticide discharges from agriculture; toxic
pollutants from industrial waste; and the construction of dams and
dikes, often in an attempt at flood prevention.
According to the Sri Lanka Wetlands Database (2006), what is the most
frequently reported threat to wetlands in Sri Lanka?
12. Muthurajawela is a well known wetland close to Colombo, and
together with the Negombo estuary, forms an integrated coastal wetland
ecosystem spanning 6,232 hectares. Some years ago, scientists estimated
the economic value of this wetland to be around Rs 726 million per year
– the benefits are mainly flood reduction and natural wastewater
purification. In technical terms, what type of wetland is Muthurajawela?
13. The world’s largest wetland system (by land area) is found in
Latin America, and is an area of flooded grassland and savannah covering
200,000 square kilometres during the rainy season, which is about three
times the size of Sri Lanka. This wetland includes parts of Brazil,
Paraguay and Bolivia and is fed by the Rio Paraguay. What is the name of
this wetland, which conservationists say is shrinking due to
deforestation and other human activity?
14. Mangroves are an important type of wetlands. These coastal
wetland ecosystems harbour diverse plant species that are adapted to
grow in unstable conditions of estuaries. The mangroves are a rapidly
diminishing wetland type in Sri Lanka and in 2006, it was estimated that
the total mangroves patches along the coastline added up to less than
10,000 hectares. This contrasts with the world’s largest single block of
mangroves the Sundarbans, which covers around 10,000 square kilometres.
More than half of this is in Bangladesh.
Which Indian state accounts for the rest of this complex network of
tidal waterways, mudflats and small islands of salt-tolerant mangrove
forests?
15. Wetlands are threatened by natural phenomena as well. For
example, droughts, storms and El Nino phenomena can all impact different
types of wetlands. What natural event in 2004 had a major impact on most
coastal wetlands of Sri Lanka?
Answers will be published next week
Last week’s answers
1. Ang Lee
2. Lagaan
3. Dersu Uzala
4. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
5. Alan Menken
6. Meryl Streep
7. Marty Rachel Portman Italy
Dr Haing S. Ngor
(1940 – 1996)
Warren Beatty
Roberto Benigni
Hattie McDaniel
Tatum O’Neal
Lifetime Achievement Award (known as Academy Honourary Award)
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