Language: English
From the introduction:
"Wetlands are transitional areas between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), wetlands are defined as "areas of submerged or water saturated land, both natural and artificial, permanent and temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water, the depth of which at low tide does not exceed 6 m." It includes a diverse habitat from flood plains and shallow water bodies to shallow freshwater, brackish water, estuarine and marine coastal areas.
Interests in Indian wetlands has recently been developed and very little, indeed, is known about faunal resources of wetland ecosystem in India. The information so far available on the wetlands of West Bengal as well as the 24-Parganas district is too inadequate to understand their ecological significance, socio-economic relation and conservation values. Realising the importance of wetlands in the ecology of any area, the study of wetland faunal resources of West Bengal at the district level has been assigned by the department and the present publication dealing with the wetlands of North and South Z4-Parganas districts is the humble, beginning from the state of West Bengal."