Amrit Dharohar Capacity Building Scheme

The Amrit Dharohar Capacity Building Scheme is a targeted ecological conservation and socio-economic development initiative aimed at protecting India’s wetlands. Officially launched in June 2023 following its announcement in the Union Budget 2023–24, the scheme focuses on the sustainable management of internationally recognized wetlands.

• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
• Collaborative Partner: Ministry of Tourism (MoT) jointly implements the nature tourism and alternative livelihood sub-components.
• Executing Training Agency: Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITTM), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Tourism, handles grassroot skill certification.
• Implementation Model: Executed via strict operational convergence among Central Ministries, State Wetland Authorities, local bodies, and research networks.
• Operational Horizon: A three-year implementation window spanning from June 2023 through June 2026.
• Primary Core Target: Active preservation and wise-use management across India’s network of Ramsar Sites, which cover over 1.3 million hectares of aquatic ecosystem.

Core Philosophical Shift and Structural Pillars

The fundamental objective of the scheme is to transition wetland economic activities from high-volume, disruptive commercial tourism to high-value nature tourism. This strategy repositions local communities as the frontline guardians of these sensitive habitats.

The Four Structural Pillars

The holistic operational blueprint of Amrit Dharohar is built upon four distinctive technical components:

• Species and Habitat Conservation: Formulating mandatory Integrated Management Plans (IMPs) for Ramsar sites to address core challenges like invasive deweeding, desilting, and nutrient pollution abatement.
• Nature Tourism: Developing low-impact, sustainable visitor infrastructure such as nature interpretation centers, localized boardwalk trails, and designated birdwatching stations.
• Wetlands Livelihoods: Enhancing the economic stability of local populations by modernizing supply chains for sustainable wetland-derived handicrafts, micro-enterprises, and eco-guided services.
• Wetlands Carbon Assessment: Establishing standardized baseline protocols to measure and maintain carbon stocks, greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes, and overall carbon sequestration rates.

Pilot Interventions and Skill Development Programs

To test and scale the alternative livelihood frameworks before universal deployment, the MoEFCC selected 16 primary Ramsar sites across the country, prioritizing 5 specific locations for intensive phase-one pilot projects.

First-Phase Pilot Implementation Sites

• Sultanpur National Park (Haryana): A critical avian habitat handling migratory waterfowl along the Central Asian Flyway.
• Bhitarkanika Mangroves (Odisha): A unique intertidal halophytic ecosystem housing the highest density of saltwater crocodiles in India.
• Chilika Lake (Odisha): Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon and a major wintering ground for migratory birds.
• Sirpur Wetland (Madhya Pradesh): A highly urbanized, historically significant wetland complex facing severe anthropogenic pressures.
• Yashwant Sagar (Madhya Pradesh): A vital reservoir ecosystem designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA) in the Malwa region.

Targeted Capacity Building Courses

The capability enhancement under the scheme is institutionalized into structured, certificate-based training curricula managed directly by the IITTM:

• Alternative Livelihood Programme (ALP): A comprehensive 30-hour, 15-day skill-building module focused on enabling local forest dwellers, boatmen, and micro-artisans to build sustainable businesses around non-timber wetland assets.
• Paryatan Navik Certificate: A specialized safety, hospitality, and environmental certification program tailored for traditional boat operators to transform them into certified nature guides.

Sovereign Commitments and Policy Complementarity

Global Alignments and Multilateral Context

The scheme functions as India’s domestic executive vehicle to honor multiple international environmental mandates and sustainable development paradigms.

• The Ramsar Convention (1971): Fulfills Article 3 commitments which mandate contracting parties to formulate and implement planning to promote the conservation and “wise use” of wetlands within their territories.
• The Green Credit Programme: Integrates with India’s domestic Green Credit mechanics, allowing corporates and public entities to trade credits earned via private investment in wetland ecosystem restoration.
• United Nations SDG 13 (Climate Action): Mitigates global warming impacts by preserving peatlands, coastal mangroves, and marshes that act as hyper-efficient carbon sinks.
• United Nations SDG 14 & 15 (Life Below Water & Life on Land): Restores essential breeding grounds for freshwater, brackish, and marine organisms while maintaining stopover habitats for international flyway avifuana.

Key Metrics, Environmental Trivia, and Prelims Pointers

• The Wetland Analogy: In global ecological monitoring, while tropical rainforests are classified as the “Lungs of the Earth” due to oxygen production, wetlands are designated as the “Kidneys of the Earth” because of their natural bio-filtration and heavy metal absorption capacities.
• Save Wetlands Campaign Coordination: The year-long mass sensitisation campaign concluded at the Sirpur Ramsar site in Indore during World Wetlands Day celebrations, resulting in the structural creation of health cards for more than 5,800 regional wetlands.
• Wetland Mitras Network: The scheme expands the registration of “Wetland Mitras” (Friends of Wetlands), a dedicated voluntary workforce composed of local citizens tasked with monitoring illegal encroachments, waste dumping, and ecological health indicators at the grassroot village level.