Officials and experts participating in a discussion organised by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) here on Tuesday expressed concern over the dilution of regulations in the draft rules on wetland conservation notified by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and the failure to involve stakeholder communities in the management of wetlands.
The participants feared that the decentralisation of wetland conservation from the Centre to the States would not serve its purpose unless stakeholder communities like farmers, fishers and local people were given a meaningful role. The confusion over the applicability of the wetland rules and CRZ norms in some wetlands and the absence of an appellate body, compliance mechanism and state level wetland policy were the other concerns aired at the meeting.
Suresh Das, executive vice president, KSCSTE, presided over the meet, convened to discuss the State’s response to the draft rules.
