New Ramsar site

About New Ramsar site

• · Of the five wetlands added to the Ramsar list, Magadi Kere Conservation Reserve, Ankasamudra Bird Conservation Reserve, and Aghanashini Estuary are in Karnataka and Karaivetti Bird Sanctuary and Longwood Shola Reserve Forest are in Tamil Nadu.
• · Ankasamudra Bird Conservation Reserve
  • o It is a human made Village Irrigation Tank built centuries back.
  • o It is an ecologically important wetland and rich in biodiversity.
  • o It supports more than 1% of the biogeographic population of Painted Stork and Black-headed Ibis.
• · Aghanashini Estuary
  • o It is formed at the confluence of Aghanashini River with the Arabian Sea.
  • o The brackish water of the Estuary provides diverse ecosystem services including flood and erosion risk mitigation, biodiversity conservation and livelihood support.
  • o The wetland helps in traditional fish farming in the estuarine rice fields (locally known as Gazni rice fields), bivalve shell collection and salt production.
• · Magadi Kere Conservation Reserve
  • o It is a human-made wetland which was constructed to store rainwater for irrigation purposes.
  • o The wetland harbours two vulnerable species, namely Common pochard and River tern and four near-threatened species, namely Oriental Darter Black-headed Ibis Woolly- necked Stork and Painted Stork
  • o It is also one of the largest wintering grounds for the Bar-headed goose.
• · Karaivetti Bird Sanctuary 
  • o It is one of the largest inland wetlands of Tamil Nadu, and is a significant source of groundwater recharge for the area.
• · The Longwood Shola Reserve Forest
  • o It derives its name from the Tamil word, "Solai", which means a ‘tropical rain forest’.
  • o The ‘Sholas’ are found in the upper reaches of the Nilgiris, Anamalais, Palni hills, Kalakadu, Mundanthurai and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.
  • o These forested wetlands serve as habitats for the globally endangered Black-chinned Nilgiri Laughing thrush and Nilgiri Blue Robin and vulnerable Nilgiri Wood-pigeon.

Q1) What is the Ramsar Convention?

It is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites. It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the convention was signed in 1971.

Source: Shri Bhupender Yadav says India increased its tally of Ramsar sites (Wetlands of International Importance) to 80 by adding Five more wetlands to the list on the eve of World Wetlands Day 2024 (2nd February)