Management plan for Kavvayi wetlands

Efforts to get it included on Ramsar convention list

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will release a new management action plan for the Kavvayi wetland at a function at the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) at Kunnamangalam here on Friday.

It is one of the major wetland ecosystems in north Kerala, stretching from Kavvayi, near Payyannur in Kannur, to Neeleswaram in Kasaragod.

The plan, prepared by the CWRDM with financial support from the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology, and Environment (KSCSTE), would be a significant step towards including it in the Ramsar list of protected sites, P.S. Harikumar, head, Water Quality Division, CWRDM, said.

If included, Kavvayi, the third largest backwaters in the State, will be the fourth in the State to be protected under the Ramsar Convention treaty, an international convention on wetland protection. India became a signatory to it four decades ago.

Sasthamkotta, Ashtamudi, and the Vembanad Kole wetlands are the other Ramsar sites in the State.

Kavvayi is fed by five rivers including the Neeleswaram, the Karingode, and the Ramapuram. The wetland is spread across 12 sq km.

The wetland faced threats such as encroachment, laterite mining, land filling, mangroves destruction, and pollution, Dr. Harikumar said.

“The action plan, with special focus on protecting biodiversity, also suggests an institutional method for its management. The State government, with the help of the Centre, had earlier prepared a management plan for the wetland, considering its ecological importance. But, the Ministry of Environment recently changed the framework of the plan required for the inclusion of new sites. The new plan is more comprehensive and adheres to the modifications in the framework,” Dr. Harikumar said.