Five more Indian sites — three from Tamil Nadu and one each from Mizoram and Madhya Pradesh — have been recognised as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, taking the number of such sites in the country to 54.

Karikili Bird Sanctuary, Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest and Pichavaram Mangrove in Tamil Nadu, Sakhya Sagar in Madhya Pradesh and Pala Wetland in Mizoram have made it to the coveted list.

The five new sites

1) The Karikili Bird Sanctuary is situated in the Kanchipuram district of Tamil Nadu and is well-known for cormorants, egrets, grey heron, darter, spoonbill, grey pelican, white ilbis and night heron. The site comprises two rain-fed non-perennial irrigation tanks spreading over an area of more than 58 hectares. 

2) The Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest is one of the last remaining natural wetlands of Chennai located adjacent to the Bay of Bengal. This freshwater marsh and partly saline wetland situated about 20 kilometres south of the city of Chennai serves as an aquatic buffer of the flood-prone Chennai and Chengalpattu districts. 

3) The Pichavaram Mangrove is the second largest mangrove forest in the world. It is separated from the Bay of Bengal by a sandbar. It is located between the prominent estuaries of the Vellar and Coleroon Rivers. The mangroves are revered by the local communities due to the significant spiritual value associated with Excoecaria agallocha, a mangrove with toxic properties commonly known as “Tillai”.

4) Sakhya Sagar is a human-made reservoir within the Madhav National Park in Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh. It has an abundant population of marsh crocodiles. The reservoir is shallow, alkaline, and nutrient-rich. 

5) Pala Wetland is the largest natural wetland in Mizoram and is spread across 1,850 hectares. Pala Wetland is revered by the local Mara people and has a deep connection with their history. The wetland is the major source of freshwater and fish for the villages at its fringe and also the major source of irrigation water for wet rice cultivation, horticulture and other forms of agriculture.

What is the Ramsar Convention?

• The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty signed by 172 countries to protect wetlands. It is named after the city in Iran where it was signed, and it began with 18 countries in 1971.

• The convention is one of the oldest inter-governmental accords for preserving the ecological character of wetlands. Also known as the Convention on Wetlands, it aims to develop a global network of wetlands for the conservation of biological diversity and for sustaining human life.

• It is one of the largest international agreements, after the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, 196 countries) and the UN climate agreement (UNFCCC, 197 countries).

• The Ramsar List is the world’s largest network of protected areas. 

• There are over 2,400 Ramsar Sites around the world. The first Site was the Cobourg Peninsula in Australia, designated in 1974. The largest Sites are Rio Negro in Brazil (120,000 sq km), and Ngiri-Tumba-Maindombe in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Queen Maud Gulf in Canada. These Sites each cover over 60,000 sq km. 

• The countries with the most Sites are the United Kingdom with 175 and Mexico with 142. Bolivia has the largest area with 148,000 square km under the Convention protection.

• The signatory countries promise to make inventories of their Ramsar Sites and to develop management plans. These management plans include the sustainable use of the many other functions of wetlands, such as food production, water storage and recreation.

• India currently has 54 Ramsar Sites with a surface area of 1,098,518 hectares.

• Largest Ramsar Site by area in India - Sundarban Wetland in West Bengal

• Smallest Ramsar Site by area in India - Renuka Wetland in Himachal Pradesh.

What are wetlands?

• Wetlands are land areas that are saturated or flooded with water either permanently or seasonally. Inland wetlands include marshes, ponds, lakes, fens, rivers, floodplains and swamps. Coastal wetlands include saltwater marshes, estuaries, mangroves, lagoons and even coral reefs. Fish ponds, rice paddies and saltpans are man-made wetlands.

• Wetlands, often known as ‘liquid assets’, are crucial natural resources that help stabilise water supplies, cleanse polluted waters and protect shorelines.

• Wetlands provide a wide range of important resources and ecosystem services such as food, water, fibre, groundwater recharge, water purification, flood moderation, erosion control and climate regulation.

• They are, in fact, a major source of water and our main supply of freshwater comes from an array of wetlands which help soak rainfall and recharge groundwater.

• Every year, February 2 is observed as World Wetlands Day to raise global awareness about the vital role of wetlands for our planet. This day also marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on February 2, 1971, in Ramsar, Iran.

Criteria for identifying Wetlands of International Importance

A wetland should be considered internationally important:

1) If it contains a representative, rare, or unique example of a natural or near-natural wetland type found within the appropriate biogeographic region.

2) If it supports vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered species or threatened ecological communities.

3) If it supports populations of plant and/or animal species important for maintaining the biological diversity of a particular biogeographic region.

4) If it supports plant and/or animal species at a critical stage in their life cycles, or provides refuge during adverse conditions.

5) If it regularly supports 20,000 or more waterbirds.

6) If it regularly supports 1 per cent of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of waterbird.

7) If 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) If it 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) If it regularly supports 1 per cent of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of wetland-dependent non-avian animal species.

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