Nature speaks but are we still listening?

A new study by Progyan Foundation for Research and Innovation and South Asian Forum for Environment in the East Kolkata Wetlands, a vital 12,500-hectare Ramsar site, uncovers an unsettling irony. While traditional practices, like using mahua oil cake for bheri water management, sustain a natural system that treats nearly a billion litres of wastewater daily, biodiversity is quietly vanishing beneath this apparent resilience. Native fish species such as Puntius ticto are becoming locally extinct, displaced by non-natives such as Oreochromis niloticus. Satellite data confirms the physical shrinkage: 1.60 km² of wetlands lost to expansion since 2015. Following the theme of the World Wetlands Day 2026 – ‘Wetlands and traditional knowledge: Celebrating cultural heritage’, we highlight the urgent need to safeguard the traditional wisdom that protects these critical ecosystems.