India has added two new “Ramsar Sites”-Sur Sarovar and Lonar Lake as its 40th and 41st.
About Sur Sarovar
- Sur Sarovar , commonly known as Keetham Lake, is a human-made reservoir in the State of Uttar Pradesh in northern India.
- Originally created to supply water to the city of Agra in summer, the wetland soon became an important and rich ecosystem.
- The Site’s patchwork of different habitat types provides refuge to resident and migratory birds, and more than 60 species of fish. Threatened species include the vulnerable greater spotted eagle (Clanga clanga), sarus crane (Grus antigone) and catfish Wallago attu.
- The Site is important for bird species which migrate on the Central Asian flyway, with over 30,000 waterbirds known to visit the reservoir annually. Over 1% of the South Asian regional population of the greylag goose (Anser anser) is present.
About Lonar Lake
- Lonar Lake, on the Deccan Plateau in Maharashtra State, is an endorheic or closed basin, almost circular in shape, formed by a meteorite impact onto the basalt bedrock.
- The Site includes the lake as well as escarpments, which form the crater walls, and forested zones.
- The lake is high in salinity and alkalinity, as the lack of an outflow leads to a concentration of minerals as the lake water evaporates. Specialized micro-organisms such as anaerobes, cyanobacteria and phytoplankton survive in this harsh chemical environment.
(Source: Ramsar)
