4 More sites in India added to Ramsar list:-
Four more sites from India have been recognized under the 1971 Ramsar Convention on Wetlands bringing the total number of such designated areas in the country to 46. These are,
1) Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary :-
The Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary, the largest wetland in Haryana is a human-made freshwater wetland. Over 250 bird species use the sanctuary throughout the year as a resting and roosting site. The site supports more than ten globally threatened species including the endangered Egyptian Vulture, Steppe Eagle, Pallas’s Fish Eagle, and Black-bellied Tern.
2) Sulanpur National Park :-
Sultanpur National Park from Haryana supports more than 220 species of resident, winter migratory and local migratory water birds at critical stages of their life cycles. More than ten of these are globally threatened, including the critically endangered sociable lapwing, and the endangered Egyptian Vulture, Saker Falcon, Pallas’s Fish Eagle and Black-bellied Tern.
3) Thol Lake Wildlife Sanctuary :-
Thol Lake Wildlife Sanctuary from Gujarat lies on the Central Asian Flyway and more than 320 bird species can be found here. The wetland supports more 30 threatened waterbird species, such as the critically endangered White-rumped Vulture and Sociable Lapwing , and the vulnerable Sarus Crane, Common Pochard and Lesser White-fronted Goose.
4) Wadhvana Wetland:-
Wadhvana Wetland from Gujarat is internationally important for its bird life as it provides wintering ground to migratory water birds, including over 80 species that migrate on the Central Asian Flyway. They include some threatened or near-threatened species such as the endangered Pallas’s fish-Eagle, the vulnerable Common Pochard, and the near-threatened Dalmatian Pelican, Grey-headed Fish-eagle and Ferruginous Duck.
What is Ramsar Convention :-
The Ramsar Convention 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 Convention 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”.
Criteria required for Wetland site to be added in list of Ramsar Sites :-
1) It contains a representative, rare, or unique example of a natural or near-natural wetland type found within the appropriate biogeographic region.
2) It supports vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered species or threatened ecological communities.
3) It supports populations of plant and/or animal species important for maintaining the biological diversity of a particular biogeographic region.
4) It supports plant and/or animal species at a critical stage in their life cycles, or provides refuge during adverse conditions.
5) It regularly supports 20,000 or more waterbirds.
6) It regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of waterbird.
7) It supports a significant proportion of indigenous fish subspecies, species or families, life-history stages, species interactions and/or populations that are representative of wetland benefits and/or values and thereby contributes to global biological diversity.
8) Iot is an important source of food for fishes, spawning ground, nursery and/or migration path on which fish stocks, either within the wetland or elsewhere, depend.
9) It regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of wetland-dependent non-avian animal species.
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