
On Saturday, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) said that four more Indian sites, two each from Haryana and Gujarat, had been added as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, increasing the number of such sites in the country to 46.
Union Minister of Environment, Bhupender Yadav, wrote on microblogging site Twitter that,
PM Shri @narendramodi ji’s concern for the environment has led to overall improvement in how India cares for its wetlands. Happy to inform that four more Indian wetlands have got Ramsar recognition as wetlands of international importance. pic.twitter.com/HJayFUZDpl
— Bhupender Yadav (@byadavbjp) August 13, 2021
“Thol and Wadhwana from Gujarat and Sultanpur and Bhindawas from Haryana have made the cut for Ramsar recognition. The number of Ramsar sites in India is now 46”, Yadav continued.
Gujarat’s Thol Lake Wildlife Sanctuary lies on the Central Asian Flyway where over 320 bird species can be found. Moreover, Wadhwana Wetland in the state is considered to be important worldwide as it provides wintering ground to migratory waterbirds, including more than 80 species that migrate on the Central Asian Flyway.
As per the Ministry, Haryana’s two wetlands, viz. Sultanpur National Park in Gurgaon and Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary in Jhajjar, have been recognized under the Ramsar list for the first time.
The objective of the 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 beliefs.”
Chilika Lake in Odisha as well as Manipur’s Loktak Lake are included in India’s 46 Ramsar sites.