Source: PIB & Wildlife Institute of India
Recently Ramsar has declared 10 more wetland sites from India as sites of international importance. With this, the numbers of Ramsar sites in India are now 37 and the surface area covered by these sites is now 1,067,939 hectares.
About Ramsar convention
- The Ramsar Convention signed in 1971, is one of the oldest inter-governmental accord signed by member countries to preserve the ecological character of their wetlands of international importance.
- The signing of the Convention on Wetlands took place in 1971 at the small Iranian town of Ramsar. Since then, the Convention on Wetlands has been known as the Ramsar Convention
- The aim of the Ramsar list is to develop and maintain an international network of wetlands which are important for the conservation of global biological diversity and for sustaining human life through the maintenance of their ecosystem components, processes, and benefits.
- Wetlands declared as Ramsar sites are protected under strict guidelines of the convention.
New sites from India
- Maharashtra gets its first Ramsar site (Nandur Madhameshwar)
- Punjab which already had 3 Ramsar sites adds 3 more (Keshopur-Miani, Beas Conservation Reserve, Nangal) and
- UP with 1 Ramsar site has added 6 more (Nawabganj, Parvati Agra, Saman, Samaspur, Sandi and SarsaiNawar).
Map of other Ramsar sites: