ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the conceptual understanding of Environmental Governance (EG), complexity and contextual illustration through cases of three Indian wetlands. It discusses various initiatives for governance in the context of environmental degradation. The chapter presents an overview of EG with particular emphasis on Indian wetlands. It describes the challenges to governance in three wetlands in India due to the environmental, socio-political peculiarities of each and illustrates the fragmented nature of institutions (policies, laws and organisations) of governance in these wetlands. EG is an ‘overarching principle’ to regulate public and private behaviour towards greater accountability and responsibility to the environment. The ‘rediscovery’ of governance has been done by mainstream International Financial Institutions (IFIs) like the World Bank as a rethinking of the pure neoliberal agenda that peaked development thinking in the 1980s. The environmental problems in Asia have grown in severity mainly due to the rapid and indiscriminate economic growth in the region.
