Multiuse Wetlands Governance

The Ramsar Convention was established in 1971 to ensure the conservation and wise use of wetlands across the world. India joined the Convention in 1982, however, in the past 50 years despite Ramsar’s incredible achievements, the threat to wetlands across the globe, including India, has not diminished. This book studies the governance of multiuse wetlands in India. The volume provides an exhaustive analysis of rural, peri-urban and urban human-made wetlands to establish the relevance of institutional design and the effective role of authority in governing multiuse wetland ecosystem services. The author argues that the most challenging task in governing wetlands is to frame institutional choices that users and non-users comprehend, and agree to pursue under alternative property rights regimes. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, the book provides a broader look into the causes and consequences of wetland ecosystem degradation and offers insights into improved sustainable management systems for different types of multiuse wetlands. It will be indispensable for students and researchers of environmental studies, sustainable development, biodiversity, conservation, agricultural, natural, and environmental resource economics.

This book is an outcome of the keynote/lead papers presented by the experts from different disciplines in the Indian Ecological Society International Conference 2016 on “Natural Resource Management: Ecological Perspectives”, organized at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu, India. The book captures the essence of natural resource management from the intra and interdisciplinary perspectives of agricultural sciences (entomology, plant pathology, plant breeding and genetics, agronomy and soil sciences), social sciences (resource economics, agricultural extension education), medical sciences, and environmental sciences to stimulate discussion on the ecological perspectives of natural resource management. Wide-ranging topics on land and water resources, biodiversity, integrated farming system, role of microbes in agriculture, climate change and its impact on human health and crop pests, exploiting chemical ecology for pest management, human disease-causing pesticides, beneficial insects like lac insects, integrated pest management, resistance management in insect pests and Bt cotton , and diffusion and adoption of ecologically sustainable technologies at individual and organizational level are covered in the book.. The book will serve the professionals, researchers, academia, government, industry and students.