"It is for the first time that all wetlands in the country will be mapped. ISRO will provide us with an upto date inventory of wetlands, estimated at around 7-10 million hectares, by the end of August," said Ramesh while speaking at the launch of a course on "Appreciation Programme on Sustainable Management of Wetlands" at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) here.
Stressing on the need to protect aquatic assets, he said: "They are valuable ecological niches and the concept of sustainable development should be for future generations, including today's generations."
He said the ministry will soon formulate a regulation on wetlands to prevent encroachment of precious biodiversity.
(Published 22 July 2010, 15:33 IST)
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