TSO KAR WETLAND COMPLEX

TSO KAR WETLAND COMPLEX

Subject: Geography

Context: One more wetland in India has been added to the list of recognised sites of international importance under the treaty of Ramsar Convention, taking the number of such wetlands in the country to 42, the highest in South Asia.

Concept:

• The latest site to be added to the list is a high-altitude wetland complex of two connected lakes, Startsapuk Tso and Tso Kar, in Ladakh.
• Last month, two wetlands — the Lonar lake in Maharashtra and Sur Sarovar, also known as Keethamlake, in Agra — were added to the list of Ramsar sites.

About Wetland Complex

• The Tso Kar Basin is a high-altitude wetland complex, consisting of two principal waterbodies, Startsapuk Tso, a freshwater lake of about 438 hectares to the south, and Tso Kar itself, a hyper-saline lake of 1,800 hectares to the north, situated in the Changthang region of Ladakh.
• It is called Tso Kar, meaning white lake, because of the white salt efflorescence found on the margins due to the evaporation of highly saline water.

Flora and Fauna

• The inlets of the Tso Kar are a source of non-saline water; pondweeds and basic nettles grow there, forming floating islands of vegetation in the spring and dying off in the winter.
• Sedge and large numbers of buttercups grow on the shores of Startsapuk Tso and of the tributaries of the Tso Kar, while some parts of the high basin are marked by steppe vegetation interspersed with tragacanth and pea bushes.
• Due to the salinity of the Tso Kar, most of the resident fauna is found in its tributaries and in Startsapuk Tso.
• There are large breeding colonies of grebes and brown-headed gulls, and some strip geese, rust geese and terns. In the vicinity of the lake black-necked cranes and Tibetan grouse are relatively common.
• The basin of the Tso Kar and the adjoining More Plains constitute one of the most important habitats of the kiang, Tibetan gazelles, Tibetan wolves and foxes; there are himalayan marmots in the higher reaches. Yaks and horses are kept by the nomads.

Ramsar Site

• Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty adopted in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea.
• It came into force for India on 1st February, 1982. Those wetlands which are of international importance are declared as Ramsar sites.
• The Convention’s mission is “the conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world”.
• The Montreux Record is a register of wetland sites on the List of Wetlands of International Importance where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a result of technological developments, pollution or other human interference. It is maintained as part of the Ramsar List.
• At present, two wetlands of India are in Montreux Record: Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan) and Loktak Lake (Manipur).
• Chilika Lake (Odisha) was placed in the record but later removed from it.