Management options for the kole wetland ecosystem through stakeholder studies

Abstract

Wetland management strategy is not very scientifically drawn in India. In Kerala, state policies do not reflect the conservation element. The kole wetlands are central Kerala’s unique rice production ecosystem. The ecosystem significance of the area is evidenced by its inclusion as a Ramsar site, and recently, they have been considered a separate high value biodiversity area. The development policies so far do not uphold the provisions for ecosystem protection of the wetlands. Covering visible interests of the stakeholders, policy makers touch the politically correct options alone. The marginalised and voiceless stakeholders mostly lose their interests and so do the ecological concerns, with no one to project them. This study aimed to come out with policy suggestions as to how wetland conservation without sacrificing the human economic activity can be carried out which will inform management plans for the wetlands in the long run. The study has been conducted in six randomly selected panchayats, three from each of Thrissur kole and Ponnani kole, which were Arimpur, Paralam and Thanniyam from Thrissur kole and Kattakampal, Perumpadappu and Nannamukku from Ponnani kole. Major Stakeholder groups were identified using the snow ball sampling technique. The major stakeholder groups identified were farmers, government departments, agricultural labourers, input agencies, cooperatives, marketing agencies and NGOs. Stakeholder interactions and information from secondary data led to the development of structural and functional relationships among the stakeholder groups. Farmers’ awareness regarding various ecosystem services provided by the kole lands was studied. The ecosystem functions provided by the kole lands have been categorised into seven such as hydrological, chemical, recreational, biological, environmental, socio-economic and other functions. Awareness of the respondents of the Thrissur and Ponnani koles was analysed and stakeholders from both koles were commonly aware of 14 services. Preferences of the stakeholders regarding resource use of the kole lands were studied using a five point continuum. The major preferences lay in the premises of livelihood provision, food production, water conservation, role as a natural resource base, water storage, soil nutrient regulation and provision of leisure activities. Stakeholders’ perspectives were elaborately studied by concept mapping procedure. The perspectives were classified into production, environmental, socio-economic and ancillary services. Multidimensional scaling was used to develop a map where each perspective is a point on the map. Proximity values of the perspectives were considered to interpret the output. As a result similar perspectives were grouped into one cluster. Concepts in the clusters were suitably labelled. Based on all the analyses done, management options for the kole lands were developed. The important ones were neededs for promotion of more than one crop in kole, need for integrated farming, proper maintenance of water ways, promotion of organic measures, education of farmers on water conservation measures and the like. The study points towards the need for extensive measures for problem identification and management in kole lands to sustain them as a major rice producing area in Kerala.