PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF WETLANDS: A CASE STUDY OF PALLIKARANAI WETLANDS

Wetlands are ecosystems or habitats for specific plants and animals that are saturated with water, the presence or absence of water determines their formation, processes and characteristics. Wetlands are of great importance to man and nature as it purifies water, reduces flood, stores water, prevents soil erosion and supports varied biodiversities. Starting about thousands of years in urban areas of the world and typically a few hundred years ago in most of the coastal areas, humanity has profoundly impacted, degraded or destroyed many coastal wetlands worldwide by direct physical degradation, pollution or dumping them for settlement purpose. The present study tries to evaluate the public perception about the wetlands. Stratified sampling method is adopted to select the sample from the population through questionnaire having 24 basic questions on the reality and myths associated with the wetland