In the quiet surrounding of a Ramsar-listed wetland in the heart of the Terai region of Nepal, sits Beeshazari Tal serenely within its landscape sheltering birds, aquatic life, and a delicate ecosystem that asks only for the right to remain undisturbed. Yet the intrusion of plastics carried by distant hands and discarded by transient visitors tells a different story. Waste here is not just an isolated event, it is the manifestation of choices regarding how we consume, how we discard, and how we distribute the burden of responsibility. And just like water, this responsibility is rarely neutral.
Even in places like Beeshazari Tal, the story connects. A polluted ecosystem affects livelihoods, tourism, and local environment, all of which falls back to those who did not create the mess in the first place but are the most affected by its presence.
This year’s World Water Day reminds us that Where water flows, equality grows. But the inverse: Where water is polluted, inequality flourishes is also true. Just as the water flows through the landscape, the labour of managing it flows along familiar, gendered lines. In communities that enclose these ecosystems, and in communities outside these ecosystems, women often stand at the intersection of these disproportionate systems of maintaining the work of cleanliness as well as absorbing the shock of environmental degradation firsthand. When waste accumulates, when lakes become a graveyard for plastics, it is not merely an environmental crisis; it is an extension of the invisible labour required to sustain a community. The act of clearing a lake is therefore much more than a conservation effort, it becomes an act of social justice.
To remove waste from these waters is to ask a radical question: Why is the work of sustaining life so undervalued? By rethinking these hierarchy of responsibility, we move beyond just “cleaning up” and towards a transformative approach where the work of safeguarding is recognized and respected across every area of work. When women and communities work alongside and are centred as leaders in water solutions rather than just the silent bearers of its degradation, the entire ecosystem thrives.
As the surface of Beeshazari Tal clears, the reflection it offers is not just of the sky above, but of a shift in human understanding. It shows us that protecting water is not only about preserving nature, but it is also about choosing to carry the weight of our environment together. Because when we value the shared responsibility of preserving our nature and the everyday work that sustains these wetlands, we ensure that as the water flows freely and fairly, equality truly grows for everyone.
