Part 8 -Ramsar Sites in India – Every Sites Explained Along With New Ramsar Sites

Ramsar Sites in India

Introduction 

  • The convention entered into force in India on 1 February 1982.
  • India currently has 37 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites), with a surface area of 1,067,939 hectares.

1.Rudrasagar Lake

  • Located in the state of Tripura
  • This wetland is fed by three perennial streams discharging to the River Gomti.
  • This site is an ideal habitat for IUCN Redlisted Three-striped Roof Turtle Kachuga dhongka.
  • Main threats of this wetland are increasing silt loads due to deforestation, expansion of agricultural land and intensive farming.

2.Wular Lake

  • Located in Jammu and Kashmir
  • The largest freshwater lake in India.
  •  This site has  extensive marshes of emergent and floating vegetation.
  • The lake support important fishing industry for the state.

3.Sunderban Wetland

  • Located in the state of West Bengal.
  • This site is located within largest mangrove forest in the world.
  • It is in the delta of the Rivers Ganges and Brahmaputra.
  • Sunderbans constitutes over 60% of the country’s total mangrove forest area and includes 90% of Indian mangrove species.
  • This site is also declared as a Critical Tiger Habitat .
  • This site also is the habitat of endangered animals such as   Irrawaddy dolphin, fishing cat etc.
  • This site is the  deltaic region formed by the alluvial deposits of river Brahmani, Baitarani and Dhamara (Bhitarkanika) and the Mahanadi deltaic area, comprising of about 3000 Sq. Km.

4.Ashtamudi Wetland

  • It is located in the state of Kerala.
  • This wetland has an extensive estuary system.
  • This site also has Mangroves ,migratory forests.

5.Bhitarkanika Mangroves

  • Located in the state of Odisha.
  • It is a wildlife sanctuary .
  • This site has Mangroves .
  • The site’s Gahirmatha beach is said to host the largest known Olive Ridley sea turtle nesting beach in the world, with half a million nesting annually, and the site has the highest density of saltwater crocodile in the country, with nearly 700 Crocodylus porosus..
  • The forests and Wetland gives enormous protection from cyclones .

6.Chandertal Wetland

  • Located in the state of Himachal Pradesh .
  • A high altitude lake on the upper Chandra valley flowing to the Chandra river of the Western Himalayas  near the Kunzam pass joining the Himalayan and Pir Panchal ranges.
  • This site has IUCN redlisted Snow Leopard Himalayan Ibex , Blue Sheep etc .

7.Bhoj Wetland .

  • This site is located in the state of Madhya Pradesh .
  • It is human constructed lake along  the Kolans River near the city Bhopal.

8.Chilika Lake

  • This wetland is located in Odisha.
  • Added to the Montreux Record in 1993 and removed in 2002.
  • This site Placed on the Montreux Record in 1993 due to problems caused by siltation and sedimentation which was choking the mouth of the lake; removed from the Record in 2002 following rehabilitation efforts for which the Chilika Development Authority received the Ramsar Wetland Conservation Award for 2002.
  • It is a Brackish lake separated from the Bay of Bengal.

9.Deepor Beel

  • Located in the state of Assam.
  • This wetland is a permanent freshwater lake in the Brahmaputra river.

10.East Calcutta Wetlands.

  • This site is a World-renowned as a model of a multiple use wetland .
  • This  wetland forms an urban facility for treating the city’s waste water and utilizing the treated water for pisciculture and agriculture.

11.Harike Lake

  • Located in the state of Punjab
  • It is a shallow water reservoir with thirteen islands, at the confluence of two rivers Beas and Sutlej .
  • It is an important site for breeding, wintering and staging birds.

12.Hokera Wetland

  • Located in Jammu and Kashmir .
  • Situated at the back of the snow-draped Pir Panchal..
  • Large Egret, Great Crested Grebe, Little Cormorant, Common Shelduck, Tufted Duck and endangered White-eyed Pochard are its main Habitat.

13.Kanjli Wetland

  • Located in the state of Punjab
  • Increasing pollution levels, deforestation in the catchment area, and excessive grazing are seen as potential threats.
  • The stream is considered to be the most significant in the state from the religious point of view, as it is associated with the first guru of the Sikhs, Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

14.Keoladeo National Park

  •  Located in the state of Rajasthan
  • Added to the Montreux Record in 1990 due to “water shortage and an unbalanced grazing regime”.
  • It is a Heritage Site; National Park; Bird Sanctuary.
  • This site is a  complex of ten artificial, seasonal lagoons, varying in size, situated in a densely populated region.
  • The type of  Vegetation here  is a mosaic of scrub and open grassland.

15.Kolleru Lake

  • Located in the state of Andhra Pradesh
  • A natural eutrophic lake, situated between the two major river basins of the Godavari and the Krishna.
  • It provides habitat for a number of resident and migratory birds

16.Loktak Lake

  • Located in the state of Manipur .
  • Included on the Montreux Record in 1993 as a result of ecological problems such as deforestation in the catchment area, infestation of water hyacinth, and pollution.
  • It is a large, but shrinking freshwater lake and associated swamplands supplied by several streams.
  •  Thick, floating mats of weeds covered with soil (phumids’) are a characteristic feature.

17.Nalsarovar .

  • Located in the state of Gujarat
  • The wetland is  a lifeline for a satellite population of the endangered Indian Wild Ass (Equus hemionus khur) .
  • 18.Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary
  • Located in the state of Tamilnadu .
  • A coastal area consisting of shallow waters, shores, and long sand bars, intertidal flats and intertidal forests, chiefly mangrove are its features .

19.Pong Dam Lake .

  • Located in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
  • A water storage reservoir created in 1975 on the Beas River .

20.Renuka Wetland .

  • Located in the state of Himachal Pradesh .
  • A natural wetland with freshwater springs and inland subterranean karst formations, fed by a small stream flowing from the lower Himalayan out to the Giri river..

21.Ropar Wetland

  • Located in the state of Punjab .
  • A humanmade wetland of lake and river formed by the 1952 construction of a barrage for diversion of water from the Sutlej River for drinking and irrigation supplies. .
  • The site is an important breeding place for the nationally protected Smooth Indian Otter, Hog Deer, Sambar etc.

22.Sambhar Lake

  • Located in the state of Rajasthan .
  • It is a large saline lake fed by four streams set in a shallow wetland and subject to seasonal fluctuations.
  • It is surrounded by sand flats and dry thorn scrub and fed by seasonal rivers and streams.

23.Sasthamkotta Lake

  • Located in the state of Kerala .
  • The largest freshwater lake in Kerala
  • The water contains no common salts or other minerals and supports no water plants.
  • A larva called “cavaborus” abounds and eliminates bacteria in the water, thus contributing to its exceptional purity.

24.Surinsar-Mansar Lakes

  • Located in Jammu and Kashmir.
  • Freshwater composite lake in semi-arid Panjab Plains, adjoining the Jhelum Basin.

25 .Tsomoriri

  • Located in Jammu and Kashmir .
  • A freshwater to brackish lake lying at 4,595m above sea level, with wet meadows and borax-laden wetlands along the shores. .
  • The local community dedicated Tsomoriri as a WWF Sacred Gift for the Living Planet in recognition of WWF-India’s project work there..

26.Upper Ganga River

  • Located in the state of Uttar Pradesh .
  • The river provides habitat for IUCN Red listed Ganges River Dolphin, Gharial, Crocodile, Otter etc .

27.Vembanad-Kol Wetland

  • Located in the state of Kerala .
  • The largest brackish, humid tropical wetland ecosystem .

28.Samaspur Bird Sanctuary

  • Located in the state of Uttar Pradesh .
  • It is a perennial lowland marsh typical of the Indo-Gangetic Plains.
  • The Sanctuary harbours threatened species such as the endangered Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) and Pallas’s fish eagle (Haliaeetus leucoryphus), and more than 1% of the South Asian population of the vulnerable common pochard (Aythya ferina). .

29.Parvati Arga Bird Sanctuary

  • Located in the state of Uttar Pradesh
  • It  is a permanent freshwater environment consisting of two oxbow lakes.

30.Sarsai Nawar Jheel

  • Located in the state of Uttar Pradesh
  • This typical wetland of the Indo-Gangetic floodplain is fed by precipitation run-off from the South West monsoon rains. .
  • It is an example of co-habitation of humans and wildlife.

31.Nangal Wildlife Sanctuary

  • Located in the state of Punjab
  • Situated in the Shivalik foothills.
  • It is the highly eco-sensitive Nangal Wildlife Sanctuary.
  • It occupies a human-made reservoir constructed as part of the Bhakra-Nangal Project in 1961..

32.Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary .

  • Located in the state of Uttar Pradesh
  • The Sanctuary supports recreation and tourism activities as well as local biodiversity..

33.Nandur Madhameshwar

  • Located in the state of Maharashtra .
  • The Site is a mosaic of lakes, marshes and riparian forest on the Deccan Plateau..
  • This site is located at the confluence of the Godavari and Kadwa Rivers helped create a thriving wetland.

34.Sandi Bird Sanctuary

  • Located in the state of Uttar Pradesh .
  • The wetland is typical of the Indo-Gangetic plains and receives most of its water from monsoon rains..

35.Beas Conservation Reserve

  • Located in the state of Punjab.
  • The River meanders down from the Himalayan foothills to the Harike Headworks, where its course is diverted into a number of channels.
  • The River is dotted with islands, sand bars and braided channels creating a complex environment supporting substantial biodiversity.

36.Saman Bird Sanctuary

  • Located in the state of Uttar Pradesh .
  • It is a seasonal oxbow lake on the Ganges floodplain..

37.Keshopur-Miani Community Reserve

  • Located in the state of Punjab.
  • The Reserve is a mosaic of natural marshes, aquaculture ponds and agricultural wetlands maintained by the annual rainfall runoff.

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