Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

27 Jul Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

Posted at 27 Jul 2022 in Current Affairs by anoop singh 0 Comments

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TOPIC IN NEWS :- India adds five more Ramsar sites (THE HINDU)

Other Important Points

New ramsar site :- 3 from Tamil Nadu, 1 each is in Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram.
Now in India total there are 54 Ramsar sites, or wetlands of international importance.
New ramsar sites are Karikili Bird Sanctuary, Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest and Pichavaram Mangrove in Tamil Nadu, the Sakhya Sagar in Madhya Pradesh and the Pala Wetlands in Mizoram.
Total Ramsar wetlands in India are spread over 11,000 sq.km — around 10% of the total wetland area in the country — across 18 States.
After designating a particular site as Ramsar site does not necessarily invite extra international funds, but the Centre & States government must ensure that these tracts of land are conserved and spared from encroachment.
Acquiring this label also helps to boost the locale’s tourism potential and its international visibility.
National Wetland Inventory and Assessment compiled by the ISRO estimates India’s wetlands to span around 1,52,600 square kilometers.

Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands).
It is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the convention was signed in 1971 and came into force in 1975.
World Wetlands Day :- 2nd February.
Presently 171 countries are the parties of ramsar convention. India is also a party, signed it on 1st February 1982.
Any wetland site which has been listed under the Ramsar Convention that aims to conserve it and promote sustainable use of its natural resources is called a Ramsar Site.
The Ramsar Convention works closely with six other organisations known as international organization partners (IOPs). These are: BirdLife International, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Wetlands International, WWF International, Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT). These organizations also support the work of the convention by providing expert technical advice, helping implement field studies, and providing financial support.
The United Kingdom has the most number of Ramsar sites with 175. The country with the greatest area of listed wetlands is Bolivia, (148,000 square kilometers).

Ramsar site criteria

A wetland can be considered internationally important if any of the following nine criteria apply:

It contains a representative, rare, or unique example of a natural or near-natural wetland type found within the appropriate biogeographic region.
It supports vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered species or threatened ecological communities.
It supports populations of plant and/or animal species important for maintaining the biological diversity of a particular biogeographic region.
It supports plant and/or animal species at a critical stage in their life cycles, or provides refuge during adverse conditions.
It regularly supports 20,000 or more waterbirds.
It regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of waterbird.”
It supports a significant proportion of indigenous fish subspecies, species or families, life-history stages, species interactions and/or populations that are representative of wetland benefits and/or values and thereby contributes to global biological diversity.”
It is an important source of food for fishes, spawning ground, nursery and/or migration path on which fish stocks, either within the wetland or elsewhere, depend.”
It regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of wetland-dependent non-avian animal species.”

Source :- Ramsar.org

Ramsar Site in India

Sundarbans is the largest Ramsar Site of India
Chilika Lake (Orissa) and Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan) were recognized as the first Ramsar Sites of India
Uttar Pradesh has the most number of Ramsar Sites in India. It has 10 Wetlands.
Renuka Wetland (Area – 20 ha) in Himachal Pradesh is the smallest wetland of India.