10 More Indian Wetlands Get Ramsar Tag, Number Goes Up To 64, Says Government

The Union environment ministry on Wednesday announced that India has added 10 more wetlands, taking the total Ramsar sites to 64.

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¡°Absolutely thrilled to inform that 10 more Indian wetlands have got Ramsar recognition as wetlands of international importance,¡± Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav said in a tweet.

Ten new wetlands

The 10 new sites ¡ª six in Tamil Nadu and one each in Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha ¡ª encompass an area of 1,51,842.41 hectares, bringing India¡¯s total wetland area to 1.2 million hectares.

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The sites are Koothankulam Bird Sanctuary , Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve, Vembannur Wetland Complex, Vellode Bird Sanctuary, Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary and Udhayamarthandapuram Bird Sanctuary, all in Tamil Nadu, Satkosia Gorge in Odisha, Nanda Lake in Goa, Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary in Karnataka, and Sirpur Wetland in Madhya Pradesh.

Until 2012, India had 26 Ramsar sites, with the last decade witnessing a meteoric rise. On July 26, Mr. Yadav announced that India had added five Ramsar sites, The Hindu reported.

10 percent Ramsar wetlands

Ramsar wetlands now comprise around 10% of the total wetland area in the country.

Being designated one, however, doesn¡¯t necessarily invite extra international funds but that States ¡ªand the Centre ¡ª must ensure that these tracts of land are conserved and spared from man-made encroachment. Acquiring this label also helps with a locale¡¯s tourism potential and its international visibility.

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To be a Ramsar site, however, it must meet at least one of the nine criteria as defined by the Ramsar Convention of 1971, such as supporting vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered species or threatened ecological communities or, if it regularly supports 20,000 or more waterbirds or, is an important source of food for fishes, spawning ground, nursery and/or migration path on which fish stocks are dependent upon.

India¡¯s wetlands on over 1,52,600 sq kms

The National Wetland Inventory and Assessment compiled by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), estimates India¡¯s wetlands to span around 1,52,600 square kilometres, which is 4.63% of the total geographical area of the country.

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A little over two-fifths are inland natural wetlands and about a quarter are coastal wetlands. India has 19 types of wetlands. Gujarat has the maximum area followed by Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Wetlands in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat serve as important spaces for migratory birds. Wetlands are also known to have among the highest soil-carbon densities and therefore play a major role in buffering carbon dioxide emissions.

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