WWF submits plan for Sukhna management

International non-governmental organisation World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) will be providing technical assistance to the UT administration to manage Sukhna Lake and has submitted a proposal for data analysis, field surveys on avians, socio-economic factors and activities centered around the wetland ecosystem.

According to the proposal, WWF will work on five key components to manage the lake. It will review and help analyse all existing knowledge, information and data; provide “terms of reference for studies to fill the knowledge gaps, conduct field surveys (including socio-economic and avian studies and Rapid Assessment of Wetland Ecosystem Services),” said a UT administration official.

It will also design stakeholder engagements, consult with them and plan capacity building programmes for them on wetland conservation. The drafting of different chapters of the Integrated Management Plan (IMP) and its finalisation will also be done under the aegis of WWF.

The NGO will draw up guidelines to regulate activities such as boating, desilting, making water available in case of deficit rainfall, fishing, and maintenance of the lake.

Being a knowledge partner of the administration, the WWF will not charge anything for the IMP, the official said.