इसकी समृद्ध जैव विविधता की वजह से, 1981 में चिल्का झील को रामसर घोषणापत्र के मुताबिक अंतरराष्ट्रीय महत्व की आद्र भूमि के रूप में चुना गया, जैसा कि तथ्यों के रूप में दिखाया है कि:

इन वर्षों में, झील के पारिस्थितिकी तंत्र को कई समस्याओं का सामना करना पड़ा और इनमे से कुछ खतरे निम्नलिखित है:
The rapid expansion of commercial aquaculture of prawn has contributed significantly to the decline of the lakes fisheries and bird population.

Concerted action was initiated by the Odisha State Government with support from the Government of India to adopt adaptive conservation and management actions.

By 1993, the problems in Chilika were so severe that the lake was put under "The Montreux Record" as the lake was considered to have “undergone, to be undergoing, or to be likely to undergo change in its ecological character brought about by human action”. The purpose was to stimulate remedial measures for the lake's conservation, supplemented with adequate monitoring. It was expected that such an action would benefit from the advice from Ramsar Advisory Mission and other identified technical assistance programmes.

सारांश में, नदी के ऊपर से गाद के नेतृत्व में वन्य जीवन और मत्स्य संसाधनों के निवास स्थान पर एक गंभीर नकारात्मक प्रभाव पड़ा जो सभी के लिए पानी की सतह क्षेत्र की सिकुड़न, लवणता और आक्रामक ताजा पानी जलीय खरपतवार की विपुल विकास की कमी।

In 1992, the Government of Odisha, concerned by the degradation of the lake's ecosystem and cognizant of significant numbers of people who were dependent upon the lake's resources, set up the Chilika Development Authority (CDA). The CDA was set up for restoration and overall development of the lake under the Indian Societies Registration Act as a parastatal body under the administrative jurisdiction of the Forest and Environment Department, with the following charter:

The governing body of the Authority is headed by the Chief Minister of Odisha State and has people’s representatives (Members of Parliament and Legislative Assembly), representatives of the fisherfolk communities and secretaries of the key departments, experts and eminent scientists as its members.

In 1998, an executive committee constituted with financial authority, supplemented with financial support from the Tenth and Eleventh Finance Commissions of the भारत सरकार, gave support to the management initiatives taken up by CDA. This facilitated a coordinated approach to plan and implement effective ameliorative management actions.

An Integrated Management Plan was implemented with financial support of Rs 570 million (US$12.7 million) out of “special problem grants” recommended by the Finance Commissions. Hydrobiological monitoring was supported under the Odisha Water Resources Consolidation Project of the World Bank, to the extent of Rs 10 million (US$220,000). A strong support network was created with 7 state government organizations, 33 NGOs, 3 national government ministries, 6 other organizations, 11 international organizations, 13 research institutions and 55 different categories of community groups.

In 2003, collaboration of Indian and Japanese experts led to a friendly relationship between Chilika lake and Saroma Lake in Japan called "Sister Wetlands".

Considering the threats faced by the lake, the National Wetlands, Mangroves and Coral Reefs Committee of the Ministry of Environment & Forests, भारत सरकार, also identified the lake as a priority site for conservation and management. The ameliorative actions taken by the CDA to restore the ecosystem and to improve the socio-economic conditions of the communities living around the lake and on its islands involved the following.

The most effective ameliorative action was the hydrological intervention of opening the new lake mouth and channel to the sea through the barrier beach at Satapura. This improved the spatial and temporal salinity gradients of the lake to maintain the unique characteristics of an estuarine eco-system. This intervention was undertaken after detailed scientific studies, including 3-dimensional mathematical modeling and hydraulics studies on a model prototype, were carried out by the Central Water and Power Research Station, Pune and National Institute of Oceanography, Goa. In September 2000, the desiltation of the channel connecting the lake to the sea and opening of a new mouth to restore the natural flows of water and salinity levels was carried out. These actions resulted in a notable increase in the lake's fish yield and a reduction of freshwater weeds. The new mouth reduced the length of the outflow channel by . Opening of the new mouth provided a favorable increased salinity regime throughout the lake with less fluctuations and improved water clarity. detailed results of this action can be seen in the references cited in External sources.

Other measures included:

In 2002, Chilika was taken out of the Montreux Record, in light of the improved conditions of the lake. Chilika lake is the first Ramsar site in Asia to be
removed from the Montreux record.



पर्यावरणीय पर्यटन
भूविज्ञान
भूगोल और स्थलाकृति
संरक्षण; खतरे व प्रबंधन