Ramsar

Just yesterday, I had gone for a picnic to a corner of Sundarban, and today got to know Sundarban Wetland has been designated as a Ramsar site just three days ago! To add Co-Incidence to co-incidence, day before was celebrated as World Wetlands Day! To celebrate, I give you a brief lecture!

The Ramsar Convention was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and came into force in 1975. The Convention’s mission is “the conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world”. As on today, there are 2341 sites globally and 27 sites in India.

Sl	Name	Location	Designated	Area (km2)
1	Ashtamudi Wetland	Kerala	19-Aug-02	614
2	Bhitarkanika Mangroves	Odisha	19-Aug-02	650
3	Bhoj Wetland	Madhya Pradesh	19-Aug-02	32
4	Chandra Taal	Himachal Pradesh	8-Nov-05	0.49
5	Chilika Lake	Odisha	1-Oct-81	1165
6	Deepor Beel	Assam	19-Aug-02	40
7	East Kolkata Wetlands	West Bengal	19-Aug-02	125
8	Harike Wetland	Punjab	23-Mar-90	41
9	Hokera Wetland	Jammu and Kashmir	8-Nov-05	13.75
10	Kanjli Wetland	Punjab	22-Jan-02	1.83
11	Keoladeo National Park	Rajasthan	1-Oct-81	28.73
12	Kolleru Lake	Andhra Pradesh	19-Aug-02	901
13	Loktak Lake	Manipur	23-Mar-90	266
14	Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary	Gujarat	24-Sep-12	123
15	Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary	Tamil Nadu	19-Aug-02	385
16	Pong Dam Lake	Himachal Pradesh	19-Aug-02	156.62
17	Renuka Lake	Himachal Pradesh	8-Nov-05	0.2
18	Ropar Wetland	Punjab	22-Jan-02	13.65
19	Rudrasagar Lake	Tripura	8-Nov-05	2.4
20	Sambhar Lake	Rajasthan	23-Mar-90	240
21	Sasthamkotta Lake	Kerala	19-Aug-02	3.73
22	Surinsar-Mansar Lakes	Jammu and Kashmir	8-Nov-05	3.5
23	Tsomoriri	Jammu and Kashmir	19-Aug-02	120
24	Upper Ganga River (Brijghat to Narora Stretch)	Uttar Pradesh	8-Nov-05	265.9
25	Vembanad-Kol Wetland	Kerala	19-Aug-02	1512.5
26	Wular Lake	Jammu and Kashmir	23-Mar-90	189
27	Sundarban Wetland	West Bengal	1-Feb-19	4260