Projects

Uttar Pradesh is home to more than 18,000 wetlands of which 10 have been designated as Ramsar Sites. These Ramsar Wetland Sites are spread across different agro-climatic zones in UP. The total area of wetlands in Uttar Pradesh is about 1.5 million hectares. Wetlands in Uttar Pradesh support a variety of plant and animal life, including over 300 species of birds. Wetlands play an important role in the environment and economy of Uttar Pradesh. They provide a habitat for a variety of plants and animals, help to regulate the water cycle, and prevent floods. Wetlands also support a number of economic activities, such as fishing, tourism, and agriculture. However, wetlands in Uttar Pradesh are facing a number of threats, including deforestation, pollution, indiscriminate dumping of waste, encroachment, overgrazing and climate change. Therefore, it is important to protect the wetlands of UP for the sake of biodiversity, flood control, and water supply. In 2019, the state government launched a new policy for the management of wetlands. The policy aims to improve the management of wetlands, promote their sustainable use, and reduce the threats they face.

With the support of GIZ India, GEAG implemented a project which aimed at developing a state-specific ‘Communication, Capacity building, Education, Participation, and Awareness (CEPA) strategy for citizen engagement for Wetlands Management’ in Uttar Pradesh.

1. Develop Site-specific CEPA strategies for 4 Ramsar Wetlands, namely, Bakhira, Sant Kabir Nagar; Sarsai Nawar Jheel, Etawah; Parvati Arga, Gonda; and Mankhotahi Taal, Kushinagar (non-Ramsar Site)

1. Discussion with District Wetland Committees to develop rapport, apprise them of the proposed project interventions to seek their support, understanding their perspectives on the situation of the wetlands, any GOs/local rules/regulations pertaining to wetland and so on.
2. Shared Learning Dialogues, focussed group discussions and participatory consultations with local community groups comprising of men, women, children and youth – to get an understanding of the ecosystem services provided by the wetlands to these communities, the local climate change impacts, reasons for degradation, any informal rules formulated by the communities and so on.
3. Site-Specific CEPA Strategies for each of the 4 Ramsar Sites developed entailing the status of wetlands, climate change impacts, reasons for degradation and so on. The report also mapped the key stakeholders (primary and secondary) who are linked with the wetlands and can be potential target groups for devising the CEPA strategy and actions.
4. Relevant knowledge products and IEC materials developed based on the CEPA strategies which were used in the CEPA events.

2. State-specific CEPA strategy: Based on the experiences generated from the Site-specific CEPA Strategies, a UP State Level CEPA Strategy was developed for citizens’ engagement towards wise-use of wetlands.