Four more wetlands of India have been included on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance, the Union government said on August 14, 2021.
- With this, the number of Ramsar sites in India are 46 and the surface area covered by these sites is now 1,083,322 hectares. While Haryana gets its first Ramsar sites, Gujarat gets three more after Nalsarovar which was declared in 2012.
- Newly added sites are two each from Haryana and Gujarat. These four sites are: Thol and Wadhwana from Gujarat and Sultanpur and Bhindawas from Haryana.
- With this, the number of Ramsar listed wetlands in Gujarat goes up to three and the listings come nine year after Nalsarovar had earned the tag in 2012.
- According to the Environment Ministry, for the first time, two wetlands in Haryana – Sultanpur National Park in Gurgaon and Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary in Jhajjar – have been included in the Ramsar list.
- Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary (Haryana): Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary, the largest wetland in Haryana is a human-made freshwater wetland. Over 250 bird species use the sanctuary throughout the year as a resting and roosting site. The site supports more than ten globally threatened species including the endangered Egyptian Vulture, Steppe Eagle, Pallas’s Fish Eagle, and Black-bellied Tern.
- Sultanpur National Park (Haryana): Sultanpur National Park from Haryana supports more than 220 species of resident, winter migratory and local migratory waterbirds at critical stages of their life cycles. More than ten of these are globally threatened, including the critically endangered sociable lapwing, and the endangered Egyptian Vulture, Saker Falcon, Pallas’s Fish Eagle and Black-bellied Tern.
- Thol Lake Wildlife Sanctuary (Gujarat): Thol Lake Wildlife Sanctuary from Gujarat lies on the Central Asian Flyway and more than 320 bird species can be found here. The wetland supports more 30 threatened waterbird species, such as the critically endangered White-rumped Vulture and Sociable Lapwing , and the vulnerable Sarus Crane, Common Pochard and Lesser White-fronted Goose.
- Wadhvana Wetland (Gujarat): Wadhvana Wetland from Gujarat is internationally important for its birdlife as it provides wintering ground to migratory waterbirds, including over 80 species that migrate on the Central Asian Flyway. They include some threatened or near-threatened species such as the endangered Pallas’s fish-Eagle, the vulnerable Common Pochard, and the near-threatened Dalmatian Pelican, Grey-headed Fish-eagle and Ferruginous Duck.
About 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 February 2, 1971.
