The wetlands, a term which includes water bodies of different types ranging from lakes, estuarine area, and riparian flood plains to tidal mud-flats, play a vital role in ensuring
both the quantity and quality of water for human beings and the entire range of flora and fauna. Wetlands provide fresh water for agriculture, livestock and domestic consumption, and recharge the groundwater levels which are under immense strain of over-exploitation. This publication being brought on the occasion of the World Wetlands Day 2007, brings out the paramount role played by wetlands in sustaining all life-support systems. The theme of World Wetlands Day for the year 2007 is