SURVEY REPORT ON THE STATUS OF A WETLAND ECOSYSTEM WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO ANTHROPOGENIC INFLUENCES

In many discussions taking place for scientific circles, the increasingly intense use of natural resources and consequent destruction of the environment have made sustainable development a central issue. In this context, the present study was attempted to find out the prominence of pollution of a wetland ecosystem due to anthropogenic activities. The sample size of 300 residents was selected from the target population and questionnaire method of data collection was employed. The responses were scored and generated data were analysed employing descriptive statistics on the basis of which conclusions were drawn. Results from the study revealed that irregular garbage collection, waste dumping, eutrophication and encroachment are the top threats to water quality in Vattakkayal wetland system. The area is to be recommended for waste collection options that enable safe disposal and prevention of dumping of waste materials. This precious water body ought to be shielded from additional deteriorations by routine monitoring of water quality parameters and by imposing constant vigil on lake so as to avoid mass anthropogenic interferences. This implies that, conduction of awareness classes among people and apprise policy makers about the present status of the water body may help to establish environmental protection and improvement strategies. The paper concludes that if the observed environmental factors are significantly redressed, the conservation approach would be greatly enhanced and the research findings there from would be better fortified.