India has added two bird sanctuaries in Bihar to the country's list of wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, making it the joint third country with China to have 82 such sites on the global list. The total number of Ramsar sites in the country has increased to 82. The number of Indian sites on the list has increased from 26 to 82 in the last ten years, with 40 of them being added in the last three years. The latest two - Nagi and Nakati bird sanctuaries - were added on the occasion of World Environment Day. Both are man-made reservoirs located in the Jhajha forest area of Jamui district of Bihar.
India and China jointly have the third largest number of Ramsar sites in the world. Both countries have 82 wetlands included in the list of Ramsar sites. The United Kingdom leads the list of countries with Ramsar sites in the world with 175 Ramsar sites, while Mexico is second with 144 Ramsar sites.
In the last ten years, the number of Indian Ramsar sites has increased from 26 to 82. 40 new sites have been added to the list in the last three years. In the last ten years, the number of Indian Ramsar sites in the list has increased from 26 to 82, 40 of which have been added in the last three years.
Ramsar is an Iranian city where an international conference was held in 1971 to discuss measures and steps to protect wetlands and their fragile ecosystem. The conference resulted in an agreement to protect wetlands around the world. The convention, which was known as the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, provides a framework for the protection and conservation of wetlands around the world and the convention came into force in 1975.
Each country that has signed the Ramsar Convention can notify a wetland as a wetland of international importance if it meets the criteria of the Ramsar Convention. These identified wetland sites are known as Ramsar sites.
The list is maintained by the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention, which is located at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) headquarters in Gland, Switzerland.
The first Indian wetland site to be included in the Ramsar Convention was Chilika Lake (Odisha) and Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan) in 1981.
Among states, Tamil Nadu has 16 Ramsar sites followed by Uttar Pradesh with 10 Ramsar sites.
Largest Ramsar site in India: Sundarbans in West Bengal.
Smallest Ramsar site in India: Renuka in Himachal Pradesh.
Wetlands are areas that are saturated or inundated with water throughout the year or at different times during the year. Wetlands can be on land or coastal areas.
Inland wetlands are areas on land that are seasonally or permanently saturated or inundated with water. It includes aquifers, lakes, rivers, springs, swamps, peatlands, ponds, floodplains and marshes.
World Wetlands Day is observed every year on February 2. On this day in 1971, the international agreement on the protection of wetlands or the Ramsar Convention was signed in the Iranian city of Ramsar.
The theme of World Wetlands Day 2024 is 'Wetlands and Human Wellbeing'.
