Long-tailed Ducks

About Long-tailed ducks:

• The attractive Long-tailed Duck is found in the high Arctic and spends winters mostly along ocean coasts. 
• They are amazing divers—able to swim down as deep as 200 feet to forage.
• Unlike other ducks, Long-tailed Ducks do not use their feet to propel their dives, but they flap with partially opened wings. 
• It is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
• Conservation Status IUCN: Vulnerable

Key points about the Wular Lake

• Wular Lake is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia. It is located in the Bandipora district in Jammu and Kashmir.
• The lake basin was formed as a result of tectonic activity and is fed by the Jhelum River.
• The Tulbul Project is a “navigation lock-cum-control structure” at the mouth of Wular Lake
• It is designated as the Ramsar site.

What is the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA)?

• It is an intergovernmental treaty dedicated to the conservation of migratory water birds and their habitats across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, Greenland and the Canadian Archipelago.
• Developed under the framework of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and administered by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
• The Agreement is subject to and governed by international law and its rules comply with the provisions of the Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties. 

Q1) What is the Convention on Migratory Species?

Convention on Migratory Species, an environmental treaty of the United Nations, CMS provides a global platform for the conservation and sustainable use of migratory animals and their habitats. CMS brings together the States through which migratory animals pass, the Range States, and lays the legal foundation for internationally coordinated conservation measures throughout a migratory range.

Source: Rare and elusive duck species visit Kashmir after 116 years

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