Conservation of Coastal Wetlands: An Appraisal of the Policy and Legal Framework in South Asian Nations

Coastal wetlands are highly productive ecosystems that provide wide range of ecosystem services. South Asia, with its long coastline, has diverse coastal wetland ecosystems that are subject to serious threats caused by pollution and over-exploitation of resources. The legal environmental instruments of different nations illustrate their intent towards the sustainable environmental governance. South Asian nations have formulated policies and legal framework for efficient management of coastal wetland resources and to meet the standards set by international regulatory instruments. This chapter discusses the national legal instrumentsand institutional frameworks structured to address the issues faced by coastal wetlands of the five maritime South Asian nations, namely, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It also discusses the international instruments, the guiding principlesfor development of national instruments, to be enforced to conserve and manage the coastal resources in a sustainable and effective way.