Ramsar Sites In India

A Ramsar Site is a wetland site assigned to be of global significance under the Ramsar Convention. The Convention on Wetlands, known as the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental ecological settlement set up in 1971 by UNESCO, which came into power in 1975. It accommodates public activity and worldwide participation in regards to the preservation of wetlands, and shrewd manageable utilization of their assets. Ramsar recognizes wetlands of global significance, particularly those giving waterfowl territory.

As of July 2021, there are right now 2424 Ramsar destinations all throughout the planet, securing 254,603,549 hectares (629,139,070 sections of land), and 171 public governments are as of now taking an interest

Ramsar Sites In India: Criteria

A wetland can be considered globally significant if any of the accompanying nine standards apply:

• "It contains a delegate, uncommon, or interesting illustration of a characteristic or close regular wetland type found inside the proper biogeographic locale." 

• "It upholds powerless, jeopardized, or basically imperiled species or compromised natural networks." 

• "It upholds populaces of plant and additionally creature species significant for keeping up with the natural variety of a specific biogeographic district." 

• "It upholds plant or potentially creature species at a basic stage in their life cycles, or gives asylum during antagonistic conditions." 

• "It routinely upholds at least 20,000 waterbirds." 

• "It supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one particular species/ subspecies of waterbird on a regular basis." 

• "It upholds a critical extent of native fish subspecies, species or families, life-history stages, species communications and additionally populaces that are illustrative of wetland benefits or potentially values and consequently adds to the worldwide natural variety." 

• "It is a significant wellspring of nourishment for fishes, generating ground, nursery and additional movement on which fish stocks, either inside the wetland or somewhere else, depend."

• "It routinely upholds 1% of the people in a populace of one animal varieties or subspecies of wetland-subordinate non-avian creature species."

Total Ramsar Sites In India

There are 42 Ramsar sites in India. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India reported the expansion of the country's 10 additional wetlands in the list of Ramsar sites in January 2020. With this expansion, the Indian State of Maharashtra got its first Ramsar site, Punjab got 3 additional Ramsar sites and Uttar Pradesh got 6 additional Ramsar destinations. In October 2020, two additional Indian wetlands - Asan Conservation Reserve (Uttarakhand) and Kabartal Wetland (Bihar) - were added to the list of Ramsar destinations. The Union Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar declared the expansion of two additional wetlands of India to the list of Ramsar sites in November 2020. With this declaration, Lonar lake in Maharashtra and Sur Sarovar, otherwise called Keetham lake, in Agra were added to the list.

In December 2020,  Prakash Javadekar, the Union Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, reported the expansion of one more wetland of India to the list of Ramsar destinations. With this declaration, Tso Kar Wetland in Ladakh was added to the list of the Ramsar sites. The list of Ramsar sites in India is given below.

Ramsar Wetlands In India: Fun Facts

1. One of the major protected regions on the planet is the Ramsar sites. 

2. There are 2,414 Ramsar sites on the planet, covering 254,543,971.597 hectares. 

3. The world's first Ramsar site was identified in Cobourg Peninsula; Australia in the year 1974.

4. The United Kingdom has the largest number of Ramsar sites on the planet with a total number of 175 sites. 

5. International Wetlands Day is celebrated on February 2. 

6. These sites are kept up with Montreux Record India to follow any major biological changes that may influence any of the wetland destinations positively or negatively.

Ramsar Sites In India: Summary And Quick Facts

1. As of December 2020, with a surface area of 1,081,438 hectares, there are 42 Ramsar sites in India. 

2. With a surface area of 1,16,500 hectares, Chilika Lake is the biggest Ramsar Site of India. 

3. Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan) and Chilika Lake (Orissa) were recognized as the main Ramsar Sites of India. 

4. With 8 Indian Wetlands, Uttar Pradesh has the largest number of Ramsar Sites in India. 

5. With a surface area of 20 hectares, Renuka Wetland in Himachal Pradesh is the smallest wetland of India.