In South India, near the extreme southern tip of the peninsula, in a land as ancient as time itself, the primary use of the land continues to be for agriculture. The fortunes of this agriculture, and thus the survival of the people that live here ride on the bounty of the southwest and northeast monsoonal rains that come from June to September and October to December respectively. Over the years, these rains have also created more than 2000 small and large water bodies in the lowland plains of Kanyakumari District. Sustained for centuries by the tropical forests of the southern end of the Western Ghats, these fresh-water wetlands have been exploited by local farmers as irrigation reservoirs.

Apart from their irrigation potential, these ponds and lakes are also well known for the fish they produce. Rulers of the erstwhile Travancore State, aware of the special hydrologic regime of this district where ponds and lakes provided water for irrigation and maintained a stable water table, took special care to conserve these wetlands.

Today, as everywhere in India, the press of nearly one-billion people is rapidly converting the face of the land. Sometimes it is difficult to remember what the land looked like in the Kanyakumari District during one person's lifetime, before a road went in, before a bus stop came into existence, before a sports field eliminated the natural habitat. Destruction of the wetlands occur before local people realize the indispensability of such systems. Adjacent to the Suchindram Kulam wetlands is the rapidly expanding city of Nagercoil that uses the wetlands as convenient sumps for water-borne wastes causing rapid eutrification and decay. Fast-financial-return crops such as coconuts are planted in and around the water reservoirs, thus reducing their capacity to sustain the back-bone of the region's agriculture – rice cultivation.

Fortuitously, a small non-governmental organization with a bold plan and an auspicious name, the Institute For Restoration of Natural Environment(IRNE), came into being in 1993. Based in Nagercoil, the Institute was founded by a handful of nature lovers from India and abroad who felt deeply concerned about the deterioration and shrinkage of the natural environment in the Kanyakumari District. Some of these were former active officials of the Bombay Natural History Society, which has been in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since the late 1970s. Therefore, the Service extended its support to help IRNE get its program off the ground.

US wetland scientists and managers travelling to India under the Service's Special Foreign Currency Program were made available to IRNE. They visited the Kanyakumari region, helped formulate research studies and recommendations, made presentations to local schools and community groups, donated books and publications, and exchanged technical information. This support helped IRNE get international attention, as well as a grant from the U.S. Biodiversity Support Program in 1993 to develop a program for the Suchindram Kulam wetlands that could help promote agriculture, fishing and ecotourism.

Initially some of the local fisherfolk and agriculturists were not happy that a project to create a bird sanctuary was being developed out of Suchindram wetlands. They feared that sanctuary authorities might restrain fishing activities and that the birds would destroy their crops. However, universities used local television, field demonstrations, press interviews, and community lectures to help conservation awareness, thus making it possible to engage a large number of people in wetlands conservation. The State Forest Department, District Collectors and various government agencies such as the Public Works Department, village Panchayats and others have supported the conservation efforts.

The Service continues its relationship with IRNE by providing scientific literature and technical information. It is also considering support of a proposal for additional work on conservation and restoration of the area's biodiversity.

USFWS photos