India adds two new Ramsar sites-Khijadia and Bakhira : GS TIMES IAS-PCS

The Union Environment Minister Shri Bhupender Yadav announced addition of two new Ramsar sites (Wetlands of International Importance); Khijadia Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat and Bakhira Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh. He was speaking at the national level celebration of World Wetlands day 2022 held at Sultanpur National Park, a Ramsar site of Haryana on 2nd February.

India now has a network of 49 Ramsar sites covering an area of 10,93,636 hectares, the highest in South Asia.

Bakhira Wildlife Sanctuary in UP provides a safe wintering and staging ground for a large number of species of the Central Asian Flyway while Khijadia Wildlife Sanctuary is a coastal wetland with rich avifaunal diversity providing a safe habitat to endangered and vulnerable species.

What are Wetlands?

Wetlands can be both freshwater and marine and coastal ecosystems such as all lakes and rivers, underground aquifers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands, peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, mangroves and other coastal areas, coral reefs, and all human-made sites such as fishponds, rice paddies, reservoirs and saltpans.

Wetlands cover only around 6% of the Earth’s land surface, 40% of all plant and animal species live or breed in wetlands.

What is Ramsar Convention?

The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and wise use of wetlands.

The convention is named after the Iranian city of Ramsar, where the treaty was signed on February 2, 1971.

Ramsar sites in India

India has 49 Ramsar sites, which include the Chilika Lake in Odisha, Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan, Harike Lake in Punjab, Loktak Lake in Manipur and Wular Lake in Jammu and Kashmir.

RAMSAR WETLANDS SITES in INDIA (As on February, 2022)

Sl. No.	Name of Site	State Location	Date of Declaration	Area (in Sq. km.)
1	Kolleru Lake	Andhra Pradesh	19.8.2002	901
2	Deepor Beel	Assam	19.8.2002	40
3	Kabartal Wetland	Bihar	21.07.2020	26.20
4	Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary	Gujarat	24.09.2012	120
5	Thol Lake Wildlife Sanctuary	Gujarat	05.04.2021	6.99
6	Wadhvana Wetland	Gujarat	05.04.2021	6.30
7	Sultanpur National Park	Haryana	25.05.2021	1.425
8	Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary	Haryana	25.05.2021	4.12
9	Chandertal Wetland	Himachal Pradesh	8.11.2005	0.49
10	Pong Dam Lake	Himachal Pradesh	19.8.2002	156.62
11	Renuka Wetland	Himachal Pradesh	8.11.2005	0.2
12	Wular Lake	Jammu & Kashmir	23.3.1990	189
13	Hokera Wetland	Jammu and Kashmir	8.11.2005	13.75
14	Surinsar-Mansar Lakes	Jammu and Kashmir	8.11.2005	3.5
15	Tsomoriri Lake	Jammu and Kashmir	19.8.2002	120
16	Asthamudi Wetland	Kerala	19.8.2002	614
17	Sasthamkotta Lake	Kerala	19.8.2002	3.73
18	Vembanad Kol Wetland	Kerala	19.8.2002	1512.5
19	Tso Kar Wetland Complex	Ladakh	17.11.2020	95.77
20	Bhoj Wetlands	Madhya Pradesh	19.8.2002	32.01
21	Lonar Lake	Maharashtra	22.7.2020	4.27
22	Nandur Madhameshwar	Maharashtra	21.6.2019	14.37
23	Loktak Lake	Manipur	23.3.1990	266
24	Bhitarkanika Mangroves	Orissa	19.8.2002	650
25	Chilka Lake	Orissa	1.10.1981	1165
26	Beas Conservation Reserve	Punjab	26.9.2019	64.289
27	Harike Lake	Punjab	23.3.1990	41
28	Kanjli Lake	Punjab	22.1.2002	1.83
29	Keshopur-Miani Community Reserve	Punjab	26.9.2019	3.439
30	Nangal Wildlife Sanctuary	Punjab	26.9.2019	1.16
31	Ropar Lake	Punjab	22.1.2002	13.65
32	Keoladeo Ghana NP	Rajasthan	1.10.1981	28.73
33	Sambhar Lake	Rajasthan	23.3.1990	240
34	Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary	Tamil Nadu	19.8.2002	385
35	Rudrasagar Lake	Tripura	8.11.2005	2.4
36	Haiderpur Wetland	Uttar Pradesh	8.12.2021	69.08
37	Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary	Uttar Pradesh	19.9.2019	2.246
38	Parvati Agra Bird Sanctuary	Uttar Pradesh	2.12.2019	7.22
39	Saman Bird Sanctuary	Uttar Pradesh	2.12.2019	52.63
40	Samaspur Bird Sanctuary	Uttar Pradesh	3.10.2019	79.94
41	Sandi Bird Sanctuary	Uttar Pradesh	26.9.2019	30.85
42	Sarsai Nawar Jheel	Uttar Pradesh	19.9.2019	16.13
43	Sur Sarovar	Uttar Pradesh	21.8.2020	4.31
44	Upper Ganga River (Brijghat to Narora Stretch)	Uttar Pradesh	8.11.2005	265.9
45	Asan Conservation Reserve	Uttarakhand	21.7.2020	4.444
46	East Kolkata Wetlands	West Bengal	19.8.2002	125
47	Sunderbans Wetland	West Bengal	30.1.2019	4230
48.	Bakhira Wildlife Sanctuary	Uttar Pradesh	——	—-
49.	Khijadia Wildlife Sanctuary	Gujarat	—–	—–