An Educational visit to Gharana wetland

 What are wetlands?

Wetlands are transitional areas, sandwiched between permanently flooded deepwater 

environments and well-drained uplands, where the water table is usually at or near the

 surface or the land is covered by shallow water. They include mangroves, marshes

 (salt, brackish, intermediate, and fresh), swamps, forested wetlands, bogs, wet prairies,

 prairie potholes, and vernal pools. In general terms, wetlands are lands where saturation 

👎with water is the dominant factor determining the nature of soil development and the

 types of plant and animal communities living in the soil and on its surface.

THE RAMSAR CONVENTION DEFINES WETLAND AS:

"Areas of marshes,fen,peatland or water whether natural or artificial,permanent or temporary,with water that is static or flowing,fresh,brackish or salt including areas of 

marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed 6 meters."

IN ADDITION THE CONVENTION CONCLUDES THAT WETLANDS: 

"May incorporate riparian and coastal zones adjacent to wetlands and islands or bodies of

 marine water deeper than 6 meters at low tide lying within wetlands."

Govt.college FOR WOMEN PARADE ORGANISED AN EDUCATIONAL TRIP TO GHARANA WETLAND, R.S.PURA, JAMMU ON 4th of december, 2021 for m.sc Zoology 1st year students to make them understand ,their 

importance in biodiversity conservation and

management.

Gharana wetland reserve

Gharana Wetland known as bird-watchers' paradise in R.S Pura, Jammu is home to

 thousands of migratory birds during winter season. Gharana Wetland located close to Indo-Pak border in Jammu district has been notified as a protected waterbody and declared as Important Bird Area (IBA).

Location:

Gharana wetland is located along the border with Pakistan in RS Pura tehsil of Jammu district.

Gharana is surrounded by wetlands of Makwal, Kukdian, Abdullian and Pargwal where

 hundreds of migratory birds, including the bar-headed goose species arrive during the winter.

Conservation status:

Gharana wetland is a notified wetland conservation reserve under the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife Protection Act 1978.

It has international recognition as one of the Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in the world,

 declared by BirdLife International (UK) and Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS)

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Ghar-ana wetland (meaning welcome home) is paradise of migratory birds. Gharana and its adjoining wetlands of Makwal, Kukdian, Abdullian and Pargwal every year receive about 10000 to 20000 migratory birds in winters.

MIGRATORY BIRDS:

All these wetlands are located along the

border with Pakistan. 

Over 50 species of the bar-headed Geese, including some rare and endangered species, every year fly a distance of more than 1000 miles over the Himalayas in a single day to

 reach here from their breeding grounds in Central Asia and other parts of the world according to J-K Wildlife department officials.

The birds which are counted among the world's highest flying species, include Siberian hans, Keel, Grey Heron and little Grebe from New Zealand, America and Australia.

Most of the birds like Grey Key Goose, shoverier, Marclands, Poachards, Teals and Gadwal come from different places in Central Asia and Northern Europe. They migrate to Gharana to escape the harsh winters.

Migratory birds come from Siberia (Russia) which travel the distance of 2387 miles to Gharana "Wetland Reserve". The reserve, known as bird-watchers'' paradise, supports a population of 20,000 to 25,000 birds of different species during every winter with  most of the species being migratory.

MY OBSERVANCE AND OPINION  REGARDING GHARANA WETLAND RESERVE :

During my visit at Gharana Wetland Reserve at R.S.Pura ,Jammu.I observed the following things

 - some of  water surface of the wetland was covered by 

Archaebacteria (halobacteria, which is a class of euryarchaeota

found in water saturated or nearly saturated with salt).

-Just before our main destination 

 we came across an area which was an agricultural land,

 and there we saw that the whole area was covered with

 smoke that came from stubble burning.

-when we visited our main destination,we saw the beauty of

 nature.There was a board on which important information

 regarding location of the area and main species of migratory

 birds that often visit there was written.

 

-there was also a board on which list of various migratory birds that visit

the wetland was shown,but we didn't see much birds there. According to

me, it might be due to the overgrowing pollution due to stubble

 burning.

-At some region on the wetland there was a growth of plants  belong to Genus Azolla,

which is a mosquito fern, duckweed fern, fairy moss, water fern is a genus of seven

 species of aquatic ferns in the family Salviniaceae.

Conservation strategies taken by govt. Of India for the conservation of Gharana wetland Reserve  

a five-year management plan of Gharana Wetland Conservation Reserve

 has been prepared by the wildlife protection department through WWF, which would help 

to conserve the wetland,make it an important tourist destination and 

promote eco-tourism. PTI TAS MAZ MAZ DIV.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Some images and test are taken from wikipedia and same pics are taken by me and some text is taken from my personal experience and observation during my visitto Gharana Wetland Reserve. five-year management plan of Gharana Wetland Conservation Reserve