New Delhi: Four more sites from India have been recognised as wetlands of international importance under Ramsar Convention, the Union Environment Ministry said today.
These sites are Thol Lake Wildlife Sanctuary and Wadhvana Wetland from Gujarat and Sultanpur National Park and Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary from Haryana, the Ministry said in a statement.
According to the Ministry, for the first time, two wetlands of Haryana have been included in the Ramsar list.
With this, the number of Ramsar sites in India is 46 and the surface area covered by these sites is now 1,083,322 hectares, the Ministry said.
The aim of the Ramsar 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 benefits”.
Taking to Twitter, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav expressed happiness and said, “It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s special concern for the environment which has led to overall improvement in how India cares for its wetlands.”
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, are a major source of water and our main supply of freshwater comes from an array of wetlands which help soak rainfall and recharge groundwater.
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.
Sultanpur National Park from Haryana supports more than 220 species of resident, winter migratory and local migratory waterbirds 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.
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 than 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.
Wadhvana Wetland from Gujarat is internationally important for its birdlife as it provides wintering ground to migratory waterbirds, 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.
