Reversing the Degeneration of an Ecological Hotspot through an Ecosystem Approach: A Case Study of Chilka Lake

Chilika LakeChilika Lake is India’s largest brackish water lake and a Ramsar site. The lake is a unique assemblage of marine, brackish, and freshwater ecosystemsEcosystem with estuarineEstuarine characteristics. It is a biodiversityBiodiversity hotspotHotspots and a wintering ground for more than one million migratory birds. The lake basinLake basin and coastal process are integral factors determining the ecological health of this coastal wetlandWetland. The dynamic salinity regime primarily enables the lake to support high biodiversityBiodiversity and a productive fishery that sustains the livelihoodLivelihood of 0.2 million fishers. A 0.8 million watershed communityCommunity inhabits the lake basinLake basin. The lake encountered a combination of increased siltation due to changes in the land use pattern and degradationDegradation of the basin, as well as partial closure of the seawater inlets. The decrease in salinity caused the proliferation of freshwater invasive speciesSpecies, increased turbidity, shrinkage of water-spread area, loss of biodiversityBiodiversity, and depletion of fishery resources. The overall decline in productivity in the lake and its basin adversely affected the livelihoodLivelihood of the localLocal communitiesCommunity. Due to degradationDegradation and changes in its ecological character, it was included in the Montreux Record maintained by the Ramsar Bureau in 1993. In response to this, for the regenerative restorationRestoration of the lake and its basin ecosystemEcosystem, root cause analysis, broad consultation, technologyTechnology with priority given to natureNature-based solutions, and best practices with active stakeholder participation were adopted by the Chilika Development Authority (CDA). The strategic hydrological interventionHydrological intervention in 2000, by opening a new mouth, regenerated the lake ecosystemEcosystem, increased its biodiversityBiodiversity, productivity, livelihoodsLivelihood, and climate changeClimate change adaptation, and restored the neutrality of land degradationDegradation, immensely benefitting the localLocal communitiesCommunity. The lake was removed from the Montreux Record by the Ramsar Secretariat in 2002 because of the successful regenerative restorationRestoration of its ecological character and the livelihoodsLivelihood of the localLocal communitiesCommunity.