WETLANDS

WETLANDS

TOPIC: Environment

Context- The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands has designated Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary near Jamnagar in Gujarat and Bakhira Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh as wetlands of international importance.

Concept-

• With the addition of these two wetlands, the number of Ramsar Sites in India has gone up to 49, the highest for any country in South Asia.

Definitions of wetlands

• The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands defines wetlands as “areas of marsh, fen, peat land or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters.”
• However, the Indian government’s definition of wetland excludes river channels, paddy fields and other areas where commercial activity takes place.
• The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 notified by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change define wetlands as “area of marsh, fen, peatland or water; whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters, but does not include river channels, paddy fields, human-made water bodies/ tanks specifically constructed for drinking water purposes and structures specifically constructed for aquaculture, salt production, recreation and irrigation purposes.”
  • Not every Ramsar Site is a notified protected area under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Wetlands Cover

• Globally, wetlands cover 4 per cent of the geographical area of the world.
• In India, according to the National Wetland Inventory and Assessment compiled by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), wetlands are spread over 1,52,600 square kilometres (sq km) which is 63 per cent of the total geographical area of the country.
  • Of the 1,52,600 sq km, inland-natural wetlands account for 43.4% and
  • coastal-natural wetlands 24.3%.
  • In state-wise distribution of wetlands, Gujarat is at the top with 17.56 percent of total geographical area of the state), or 22.7 percent of total wetlands areas of the country thanks to a long coastline followed by Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.

Global leaders

• The countries with the most Ramsar Sites are the United Kingdom (175) and Mexico (142), as per the Ramsar List.
• Bolivia has the largest area with 148,000 sq km under the Convention protection.