Ramsar Sites in India

India has added 10 more wetlands to sites protected by the Ramsar Convention.

What is the Ramsar Convention?

The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and wise use of wetlands.
It is named after the Iranian city of Ramsar, on the Caspian Sea, where the treaty was signed on 2 February 1971.
- World Wetlands Day: World Wetlands Day is celebrated every year on 2 February. The day marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971.
Known officially as ‘the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat’, it came into force in 1975.
The convention entered into force in India on 1 February 1982.

What is Montreux Record?

Montreux Record is a register of wetland sites on the Ramsar list, which are facing immediate challenges.
The listed sites are threatened by changes that affect their ecosystem components, processes, benefits and services which characterise the said wetland at a given point in time.
India’s two wetlands find a place in the Montreux Record. They are:
- Keoladeo National Park, in Rajasthan, was designated a Ramsar site in 1981 and listed in the Montreux Record in 1990.
- Loktak Lake in Manipur was declared a Ramsar site in 1990, and indexed in the Montreux Record in 1993.

According to the Ramsar Convention, wetlands include almost any habitat where water is key to the environment and its wildlife.
Types: Wetlands include swamps, marshes, billabongs, lakes, salt marshes, mudflats, mangroves, coral reefs, fens, peat bogs, or bodies of water - whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary.
Water flow: Water within these areas can be static or flowing; fresh, brackish or saline; and can include inland rivers and coastal or marine water to a depth of six metres at low tide. There are even underground wetlands.

The spread of Wetlands in India:

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has carried out a National Wetland Inventory and Assessment using Indian remote sensing satellites during 2006-2011 and subsequently brought out national- and state-level wetland inventory atlases.
A total of 757,060 wetlands have been mapped in the country. The total wetland area estimated is 15.26 million hectares, which is around 4.63% of the geographical area of the country.

The 10 new ones are Nandur Madhameshwar, a first for Maharashtra; Keshopur-Miani, Beas Conservation Reserve and Nangal in Punjab; and Nawabganj, Parvati Agra, Saman, Samaspur, Sandi and Sarsai Nawar in Uttar Pradesh.
The other Ramsar sites are as given below:

S.No.	Name of Sites	State	S.No.	Name of Sites	State
1.	Asthamudi Wetland	Kerala	2.	Bhoj Wetlands	Madhya Pradesh
3.	Bhitarkanika Mangroves	Orissa	4.	Chandertal Wetland	Himachal Pradesh
5.	Chilka Lake	Orissa	6.	Deepor Beel	Assam
7.	East Calcutta Wetlands	West Bengal	8.	Hokera Wetland	Jammu and Kashmir
9.	Harike Lake	Punjab	10.	Kanjli Lake	Punjab
11.	Keoladeo Ghana NP	Rajasthan	12.	Kolleru Lake	Andhra Pradesh
13.	Loktak Lake	Manipur	14.	Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary	Gujarat
15.	Point Calimere	Tamil Nadu	16.	Pong Dam Lake	Himachal Pradesh
17.	Renuka Wetland	Himachal Pradesh	18.	Ropar Lake	Punjab
19.	Rudrasagar Lake	Tripura	20.	Sambhar Lake	Rajasthan
21.	Sasthamkotta Lake	Kerala	22.	Surinsar-Mansar Lakes	Jammu and Kashmir
23.	Tsomoriri Lake	Jammu and Kashmir	24.	Vembanad Kol Wetland	Kerala
25.	Wular Lake	Jammu & Kashmir	26.	Sunderbans Wetland	West Bengal
27.	Upper Ganga River (Brijghat to Narora Stretch)	Uttar Pradesh

With this, a total of 37 sites in the country have been recognised under the international treaty.

Being declared as ‘Ramsar Site’ is beneficial for various reasons. The title will focus on:
conservation and wise use of the wetland
receive national and international cooperation for conservation and management
receive Central funding
boost in tourism
employment generation for locals and bring economic benefits for surrounding areas due to increased tourism
awareness creation for the conservation of other wetlands in the state