How Many Ramsar Sites are There in India

Introduction

There are 75 Ramsar sites right now in India. The Ramsar Sites in the country contain a total area of 13,26,677 hectares. After a decade of the Ramsar Convention, India signed the convention on February 1, 1982. Candidates for the examination must be knowledgeable of the Ramsar Sites' list, significance, legal standing, and purpose.

What are Ramsar Sites?

Ramsar sites are wetland sites that have been designated for conservation under the Ramsar Convention. The Ramasar Convention came into force in 1971 through the International Treaty. It was signed for the Conservation and the Sustainable Use of Wetlands on February 2nd in Ramsar, Iran. This year's World Wetlands Day, marked on February 2, commemorates the adoption of the convention.

The conference now has roughly 175 parties. There were 2,331 Ramsar sites in 2018 on the list of internationally significant wetlands, covering an area of more than 2.1 million square kilometres (810,000 sq mi). The nations with the most locations are the United Kingdom (175 sites) and Mexico (142 sites). Bolivia is the country with the most recognised wetlands, with approximately 148,000 square kilometres (57,000 sq mi).

History of Ramsar Sites

The Ramsar Convention designates Ramsar sites as wetlands of international importance. Initially, negotiations between countries and non-governmental organisations were time-consuming and fruitless.

With mounting concerns over the loss and deterioration of wetlands and the impact on migratory bird habitats, they resolved to join a wetlands conservation accord.

In 1971, UNESCO developed the earliest and oldest modern worldwide intergovernmental environmental pact, the Ramsar Convention or the Convention of Wetlands, which came into effect in 1975.

Significance of Ramsar Sites

Wetland management is a difficult endeavour that involves 172 countries worldwide. They recognise the importance of a specific international convention for a single environment as contracting parties.

Wetland decline is a source of concern in terms of ecosystem protection. Ramsar sites recognise wetlands that are critical to human survival.

They maintain the ecological diversity of countless plant and animal species that rely on wetlands for survival and provide the most productive environment for them.

Wetlands assist humanity in various ways, including freshwater supply, food and building materials, biodiversity, flood control, groundwater recharge, and climate change mitigation.

List of Ramsar Sites in India

Criteria to Become a Ramsar Site

According to the Ramsar Convention on wetlands, there are nine criteria for defining wetlands of international importance:

• Criteria 1: If a rare, representative or unique example of a natural or near-natural wetland type is observable within the suitable biogeographic region.

• Criteria 2: The wetland contains species that are vulnerable, endangered, or severely endangered, as well as ecological communities that are threatened.

• Criteria 3: If a wetland is a habitat for populations of plant and/or animal species, it is critical for preserving a biogeographic region's biological variety.

• Criteria 4: If a wetland has plant and animal species at a vital stage in their life cycles or if it serves as a refuge against unfavourable weather conditions. Water birds serve as the basis for specific requirements.

• Criteria 5: If it can host 20,000 or more waterbirds regularly.

• Criteria 6: If it gives regular assistance to 1% of a population of one species or subspecies of waterbird.

• Criteria 7: Wetland that supports a substantial proportion of indigenous fish subspecies, species interactions, species or families, life-history stages, and/or populations typical of wetland advantages and/or values, and hence contributes to world biological diversity.

• Criteria 8: A wetland is regarded as an internationally significant and crucial source of food for fish, as well as a spawning site, nursery, and migration route on which fish stocks rely, either within the wetland or outside.

• Criteria 9: If it provides habitat for 1% of the individuals in a population of a wetland-dependent non-avian animal species.

What is the Ramsar Convention?

It is an intergovernmental convention establishing the framework for national and international efforts to conserve wetlands. It was signed on February 2, 1971, at Ramsar, Iran, for the global protection of wetland sites. It is also called the Wetlands Convention. As a result, every year on February 2nd, World Wetlands Day is honoured.

On December 21, 1975, the convention went into effect. The treaty has currently been signed by 172 nations, and there are a total of 2,439 Ramsar sites around the world. Its major goal is to halt the global loss of wetlands and conserve them via responsible use and management. On February 1, 1982, Ramsar Convention was signed by India.

Three Pillars of Ramsar Sites

The Contracting Parties commit to the Convention's "three pillars":

• work to make better use of all of their wetlands;

• Designate eligible wetlands for the Ramsar List of Internationally Important wetlands and ensure their effective management.

• On a global scale, collaborate on transboundary wetlands, shared wetland systems, and shared species.

Facts Related to Ramsar Sites

• The convention was signed by India on February 1, 1982.

• In India, there are 49 Ramsar Sites [Latest]

• Chilika Lake in Orissa and Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan were among the first Ramsar Sites in India.

• Renuka Wetland (Area - 20 hectares) in Himachal Pradesh is India's tiniest wetland.

• Uttar Pradesh has the greatest number of Ramsar Sites in India. It has ten wetlands on the Ramsar List.

• The United Kingdom has the highest number of Ramsar Sites in the world. There are 175 wetland sites in the UK.

• International Wetlands Day is observed on February 2nd, the 50th anniversary of the Ramsar Convention.

Conclusion

A Ramsar site is a wetland site that the Ramsar Convention has classified as of international importance. The Ramsar Convention is an intergovernmental pact establishing a framework for national and international action to conserve wetlands.

It was signed on February 2, 1971, in Ramsar, Iran, and entered into force on February 21, 1971. In 1981, Chilika Lake in Odisha and Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan were the first Indian wetlands to be placed on the Ramsar site list. In South Asia, India has the highest number of Ramsar sites. Sundarbans is the most important Ramsar site in India.