India aims at 75 wetlands to get Ramsar tag

New Delhi: In a bid for more wetlands to be given international recognition, Union Environment Minister, Bhupender Yadav met with the Ramasar Convention Secretary-General, Martha Rojus Urrego at Geneva.

“India plans to increase the network of wetlands of international importance in the country to 75 sites as part of the celebrations of 75 years of Independence,” Yadav said in a Tweet.

The Minister said this would place nearly one-tenth of India’s known wetland regime into the international network. The government is aiming at 75 wetlands to get the Ramsar tag in India’s 75th year of independence,” he further said.
Yadav, who also holds charge as the Union Minister For Labour & Employment, is in Geneva to attend the International Labour Conference (ILC).
India already has 49 Ramsar Sites – wetlands of international importance – and now, it is pushing for 26 more.

These wetlands of international importance are called Ramsar Sites in commemoration of the Convention on Wetlands that took place in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar.

The 26 wetlands that await the Ramsar tag include Pala wetland (Mizoram); Satkosia Gorge, Tampara Lake, Hirakud Reservoir & Ansupa Lake (Odisha); Sirpur wetland, Sakhya Sagar & Yashwant Sagar (Madhya Pradesh), Thane Creek (Maharashtra); Hygam Wetland Conservation Reserve & Shallbugh Wetland Conservation Reserve (Jammu & Kashmir); Ranganathituu Bird Sanctuary (Karnataka), and Nanda Lake (Goa).

Tamil Nadu has lined up the maximum: Chitrangudi Bird Sanctuary, Koonthankulam Bird Sanctuary, Suchindram Theroor Wetland Complex, Udhayamarthandapuram Bird Sanctuary, Vaduvur Bird Sanctuary, Vellode Bird Sanctuary, Vembannur Wetland Complex, Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve, Kanjirankulam Bird Sanctuary, Pichavaram Mangrove, Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary, Karikili Bird Sanctuary & Pallikaranai Marsh.