A conceptual model to understand the drivers of change in tropical wetlands: a comparative assessment in India and Brazil

Abstract

Tropical wetlands are amongst the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth and have immense socio-ecological value. However, tropical wetlands are considered exploitable resources and continue to be drained and converted to other “productive” uses. It is therefore urgent to identify and understand the interactions between various drivers of change triggering degradation of such wetlands. In the present study, we systematically reviewed and analyzed the existing literature on wetlands in two tropical countries namely India and Brazil with special reference to inland wetlands, and proposed a conceptual model illustrating the intricate linkages of such wetlands with different drivers of change. We also developed the Nature Futures’ Framework to depict the diverse values of inland wetlands contributing to human wellbeing in the two tropical countries. Findings revealed similar drivers of change triggering the degradation of Indian and Brazilian wetlands. These include changes in climate & land use, population growth, poor land governance due to weak policies, besides other anthropogenic activities such as deforestation, and overexploitation of wetland resources. Among these, land-use change such as agriculture intensification and infrastructure development were the major direct drivers; whereas, institutional and governance factors such as the absence of concrete policy measures were the major indirect drivers threatening the inland wetlands in India and Brazil. Results also revealed some contrasting drivers of change such as illegal human settlements, and land grabbing by the brick industry for Indian wetlands; while, gold mining and intensification of bovine systems for Brazilian wetlands. Our paper also provides an insight into the status of wetland conservation in India and Brazil. We recommend the promotion of community-based conservation practices while adopting sustainable livelihood strategies by the local people for the conservation and wise use of inland wetlands in India and Brazil. The arguments raised in the paper have the potential to assist the stakeholders and/or decision-makers towards implementing sustainable management strategies for inland wetlands in the two countries, and tropical wetlands in general.

Increasing capacity to produce scenarios and models for biodiversity and ecosystem services

“…The aims of the various case studies were in general terms similar as they all focused on understanding the drivers of changes in biodiversity or ecosystem services and on developing pathways to shift current (negative) trends. For example: "Thus, we aim at providing an understanding of the drivers of forest cover change in Pará state by applying the IPBES framework for proposing ways to shift current trends towards positive scenarios" (Siqueira-Gay et al 2020) and "..., there is an urgent need to identify and understand the interactions between various drivers of change triggering wetland degradation and mantaining their ecological character for perpetual delivery of ecosystem services" (Sarkar et al 2020).…”

“…In particular, first, the key components were defined (Table 1) including the link between these key components, which was often represented visually by boxes with connecting arrows (Jackson et al, 2000). Key components varied greatly between case studies, such as water quality and quantity determining water health (Sarkar et al, 2020); forest cover change determined by urban expansion (Siqueira-Gay et al, 2020); and Shea tree cover and its harvest (Bondé et al, 2020). These key components provided the foundation on which to further build the complete conceptual model, as many influencing factors often play a role in determining changes in the key components.…”

“…These were commonly included in the case studies, such as for example in Siqueira-Gay et al (2020), where the socio-ecological system of forest cover change in the Amazon was investigated; or in Barbosa et al (2020) when evaluating pollination service changes in Brazil; or even in Estigarribia et al ( 2020) when analysing changes in biodiversity in the grasslands of South America. Additionally, indirect drivers commonly identified independently of the geographic location of the case study were population pressure, economic growth and international demand, governance, and policy changes, such as for example in the case of Dib et al (2020) for the Cantareira system in Brazil; or in Sarkar et al (2020) for the wetlands of Brazil and India; or in Lembi et al (2020) when analysing urban expansion in the Atlantic Forest; and in Bondé et al (2020) for the shea trees in West Africa.…”

Drivers of change in the wetlands of Latin America: The case of the coastal wetlands of Lima

“…Entre los factores que propician este deterioro se encuentran el crecimiento demográfico (Gibbs, 2000), el cambio climático (Day et al, 2008) y otras actividades de origen humano, que, en algunos casos, aprovechan los puntos débiles de los sistemas de manejo y gestión de los humedales (Turner et al, 2000;Kumar et al, 2012). Este deterioro ha sido reportado para algunos humedales de América Latina y el Caribe (Aponte et al, 2012;Sarkar et al, 2020;Senhadji-Navarro et al, 2017;Valencia-Rojas y Figueroa-Casas, 2015) en una región donde estos ecosistemas brindan servicios ecosistémicos valorados en USD 2,84 × 10 12 (Davidson et al, 2019). El Perú no está aislado de esta realidad, ya que se tiene registro de numerosos impactos que causan la degradación de sus humedales (revisar materiales suplementarios S1A y S1B).…”

“…El Perú no está aislado de esta realidad, ya que se tiene registro de numerosos impactos que causan la degradación de sus humedales (revisar materiales suplementarios S1A y S1B). A estos impactos se les llama también impulsores de cambio (IC) y pueden ser clasificados en: a) directos, si influyen directamente sobre la biodiversidad, o b) indirectos, si se tratan de factores sociopolíticos, económicos, tecnológicos y culturales, que potencian los IC directos (Ferrier et al, 2016;Sarkar et al, 2020). Estos IC pueden ser reconocidos en las investigaciones que se realizan en estos ecosistemas, donde se detallan las diferentes problemáticas que afectan a los humedales estudiados.…”