Ramsar sites                                                                                                                               

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Context: The Union Environment Ministry had notified two new Ramsar sites — Khijadiya wildlife sanctuary in Gujarat and Bakhira wildlife sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh.

 

About Khijadiya wildlife sanctuary:

• Location: Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary is a bird sanctuary located in Gujarat, India.
• Uniqueness:
• It have both fresh water lakes, salt and freshwater marshlands.
• The critically endangered Indian bdellium-tree (Commiphora wightii) found here.
• It is a freshwater wetland near the coast of the Gulf of Kutch.
• It is located at the watershed of Ruparel river and Kalindri at the North East coastal region of Jamnagar district in the Gulf of Kutch.
• The sanctuary is now part of Marine National Park, Jamnagar, the first marine national park in the country.
• It is located near Narara Island, and has a bio-diversified coral reef.
• The Site contributes to the maintenance of hydrological regimes, erosion protection and nutrient cycling. It is used for recreation and tourism, and scientific and educational activities

 

About Bakhira wildlife sanctuary:

• Location: The Bakhira Bird Sanctuary is the largest natural flood plain wetland of India located in Uttar Pradesh.
• The Grey-headed swamphen also called the Indian Purple moorhen is common breeding resident of this sanctuary.
• This Sanctuary was established in 1980.
• It is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act (1972); an “eco-sensitive zone” extends up to a kilometre around its boundary.
• It is internationally important for its birdlife as it supports over 80 species that migrate on the Central Asian Flyway.

 

Total no. of Ramsar sites in India: Presently, India has a network of 49 such sites, the highest in South Asia.

 

The Ramsar Convention 

• It is an international treaty for the conservation and wise use of wetlands. 
• It is named after the Iranian city of Ramsar, on the Caspian Sea, where the treaty was signed on February 2, 1971.
• 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”.

 

Ramsar sites in India: 

Sl. No.	Name of Site	State Location
1	Kolleru Lake	Andhra Pradesh
2	Deepor Beel	Assam
3	Kabartal Wetland	Bihar
4	Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary	Gujarat
5	Thol Lake Wildlife Sanctuary	Gujarat
6	Wadhvana Wetland	Gujarat
7	Sultanpur National Park	Haryana
8	Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary	Haryana
9	Chandertal Wetland	Himachal Pradesh
10	Pong Dam Lake	Himachal Pradesh
11	Renuka Wetland	Himachal Pradesh
12	Wular Lake	Jammu & Kashmir
13	Hokera Wetland	Jammu and Kashmir
14	Surinsar-Mansar Lakes	Jammu and Kashmir
15	Tsomoriri Lake	Jammu and Kashmir
16	Asthamudi Wetland	Kerala
17	Sasthamkotta Lake	Kerala
18	Vembanad Kol Wetland	Kerala
19	Tso Kar Wetland Complex	Ladakh
20	Bhoj Wetlands	Madhya Pradesh
21	Lonar Lake	Maharashtra
22	Nandur Madhameshwar	Maharashtra
23	Loktak Lake	Manipur
24	Bhitarkanika Mangroves	Orissa
25	Chilka Lake	Orissa
26	Beas Conservation Reserve	Punjab
27	Harike Lake	Punjab
28	Kanjli Lake	Punjab
29	Keshopur-Miani Community Reserve	Punjab
30	Nangal Wildlife Sanctuary	Punjab
31	Ropar Lake	Punjab
32	Keoladeo Ghana NP	Rajasthan
33	Sambhar Lake	Rajasthan
34	Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary	Tamil Nadu
35	Rudrasagar Lake	Tripura
36	Haiderpur Wetland	Uttar Pradesh
37	Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary	Uttar Pradesh
38	Parvati Agra Bird Sanctuary	Uttar Pradesh
39	Saman Bird Sanctuary	Uttar Pradesh
40	Samaspur Bird Sanctuary	Uttar Pradesh
41	Sandi Bird Sanctuary	Uttar Pradesh
42	Sarsai Nawar Jheel	Uttar Pradesh
43	Sur Sarovar	Uttar Pradesh
44	Upper Ganga River (Brijghat to Narora Stretch)	Uttar Pradesh
45	Asan Conservation Reserve	Uttarakhand
46	East Kolkata Wetlands	West Bengal
47	Sunderbans Wetland	West Bengal

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/two-more-ramsar-sites-announced-on-world-wetlands-day-7753955/