Ramsar Sites in India

TOPIC: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

• Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
• It was adopted in Ramsar, Iran in 1971 and came into force in 1975.
• It is the only global environmental treaty that deals with a particular ecosystem.
• It has 169 contracting parties. India became a party in 1981.
• World Wetlands Day– February, 2.
• Theme for 2016 – Wetlands for our Future: Sustainable Livelihoods
• Its Secretariat is located at Gland, Switzerland (at HQ of IUCN).
• Montreux Record: It was adopted by the Conference of the Contracting Parties in Brisbane,1996. It is a register of wetland sites on the List of Wetlands of International Importance where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring or are likely to occur as a result of technological developments, pollution or other human interference. It is maintained as part of the Ramsar List.
• Keoladeo National Park and Loktak Lake have been included in the Montreux Record since 1990 and 1993 respectively. Chilika Lake was also included in 1993 but was later removed following rehabilitation efforts. It received Ramsar Wetland Conservation Award in 2002.
• Five Global NGOs have been associated with the convention since its beginnings and were confirmed the final status of ‘International Organization Partner’ or IOPs of the convention.
• Birdlife International
• IUCN
• IWMI (International Water Management Institute)
• Wetlands International
• WWF (World Wide Fund for nature)
• India has a total of 26 Ramsar sites. They are:

Also read: Disaster Basics

Jammu & kashmir (largest number of sites- 4)

1. Wular lake
2. Tsomoriri
3. Hokersar
4. Surinsar-Mansar

Himachal Pradesh 

1. Pong Dam Lake (Maharana Pratap Sagar)
2. Renuka Lake
3. Chandra Taal

Kerala 

1. Sasthamkotta Lake
2. Vembanad-kol Wetland
3. Ashtamudi Wetland Lake

Punjab

1. Harike (Hari-ke-Pattan)
2. Kanjali (man-made)
3. Ropar  (man-made)

Rajasthan

1. keoladeo National Park
2. Sambhar Salt Lake (largest inland salt lake)

Odisha

1. Chilika Lake
2. Bhitarkanika Mangroves

Andhra Pradesh

1. kolleru Lake

Assam

1. Deepor Beel

Gujarat

1. Nal Sarovar Lake

Manipur

1. Loktak Lake (only floating lake in the world)

Madhya Pradesh

1. Bhoj Wetland

Tamil Nadu

1. Point Calimere Wildlife & Bird sanctuary

Tripura

1. Rudrasagar Lake

Uttar Pradesh

1. Upper Ganga River

West Bengal

1. East Kolkata Wetlands