Ramsar Sites in India

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, known as the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental treaty adopted on February 2, 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar. It provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. India officially became a contracting party to the convention on February 1, 1982. World Wetlands Day is celebrated annually on February 2 to mark the adoption of the convention. Under the treaty, wetlands are broadly defined to include marshes, fens, peatlands, shallow lakes, rivers, oases, estuaries, mangroves, coral reefs, and even man-made sites like reservoirs and rice paddies, extending to marine waters where the depth at low tide does not exceed six meters.

Regulatory and Institutional Framework in India

Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017

Promulgated under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, these statutory rules establish the legal framework for protecting non-Ramsar and notified wetlands in India. The rules decentralized water governance by mandating that each State and Union Territory set up a State Wetland Authority (SWA) to handle boundary mapping, ecological auditing, and notification of local water bodies. These rules impose a strict nationwide ban on reclaiming wetlands, setting up new industries within notified zones, dumping solid waste, or discharging untreated domestic and industrial effluents into wetland catchments.

National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA)

Administered by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), the NPCA is an integrated scheme formed by merging the National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) with the National Wetlands Conservation Programme (NWCP). Operating under a cost-sharing mechanism between central and state governments, it funds core interventions including shoreline bio-fencing, mechanical de-siltation of tidal inlets, weed control, and community-led eco-tourism programs.

National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA) and Amrit Dharohar

The Amrit Dharohar Capacity Building Scheme was launched by the Central Government to promote the conservation values of Ramsar sites. This national program focuses on generating alternative livelihoods for local communities through sustainable eco-tourism, nature guiding, and organic wetland agriculture, transforming communities into local guardians of these fragile aquatic ecosystems.

Statistical Overview and Spatial Density of Indian Ramsar Sites

According to the National Wetland Decadal Change Atlas compiled by the Space Applications Centre (SAC-ISRO), wetlands cover approximately 15.26 million hectares, representing roughly 4.63% of India’s total geographical area.

Top States by Number of Ramsar Sites

• Tamil Nadu: Leads the country with 16 designated Ramsar sites, featuring dense concentrations of bird sanctuaries, coastal lagoons, and estuarine marshes like Point Calimere and Vedanthangal.
• Uttar Pradesh: Ranks second with 10 designated Ramsar sites, dominated by critical oxbow lakes, river stretches, and bird sanctuaries across the Indo-Gangetic floodplains.

Top States by Total Wetland Area

• Gujarat: Possesses the highest total wetland area in India, covering over 3.47 million hectares, which accounts for more than 22% of the national wetland footprint. This is driven by its extensive salt pans, intertidal mudflats, and coastal lagoons.

Macro Metrics of Selected Landmark Sites

• Largest Ramsar Site: The Sundarbans Wetland in West Bengal covers approximately 423,000 hectares, forming part of the world’s largest deltaic mangrove forest.
• Smallest Ramsar Site: Vembannur Wetland Complex in Tamil Nadu or Renuka Wetland in Himachal Pradesh (covering roughly 20 hectares) represent the micro-scale boundary listings under the treaty.

The Montreux Record and India’s Vulnerable Sites

The Montreux Record is a principal register maintained under the Ramsar Convention listing sites 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.

Active Indian Sites on the Montreux Record

• Loktak Lake (Manipur): Placed on the record in 1993 due to ecological degradation, deforestation in the catchment area, and the impacts of the Ithai Hydropower Barrage, which disrupted natural seasonal water level fluctuations and threatened the floating vegetative masses.
• Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan): Listed in 1990 due to chronic water scarcity caused by the diversion of water from the Ajan Dam, leading to the proliferation of invasive weeds like Prosopis juliflora and a sharp drop in migratory avifauna nesting sites.

The Chilika Lake Rehabilitation Model

Chilika Lake (Odisha) was added to the Montreux Record in 1993 because a choking of its tidal inlet mouth led to a drop in salinity levels, a proliferation of invasive weeds, and a collapse of local fisheries. In 2000, the Chilika Development Authority (CDA) opened a new artificial mouth directly into the Bay of Bengal, restoring the salinity gradient. This intervention successfully revived the ecosystem, leading to Chilika becoming the first Asian wetland to be removed from the Montreux Record in 2002.

Comprehensive Compendium of Key Indian Ramsar Sites

The following comprehensive matrix maps India’s primary Ramsar sites across diverse geographic terrains, detailed by their ecological classification, locations, and core hydrological indicators:

Special Hydro-Geomorphic and Biological Phenomena

The Morphological Dynamics of Phumdis

The phumdis of Loktak Lake are floating mats of organic debris, soil, and vegetation at varying stages of decomposition. They maintain a seasonal cycle: during the monsoon, when water levels rise, the phumdis float freely. In the dry summer months, water levels drop, causing the heavy roots of the phumdis to touch the lake bed, where they absorb essential sub-surface soil nutrients. This nutrient absorption sustains the vegetation, which supports the endangered Sangai or brow-antlered deer (Rucervus eldii eldii), the world’s only floating national park habitat.

The Hydro-Engineering Divide of Kuttanad

The Vembanad-Kol wetland system is split into two hydrographic zones by the Thanneermukkom Bund. This barrier prevents tidal seawater ingress into the low-lying Kuttanad valley, where agriculture is practiced nearly two meters below sea level. The barrier ensures the southern sector remains a freshwater basin fed by the Pamba and Achankovil rivers, while the northern sector remains brackish and connected to the Arabian Sea at the Kochi port inlet.

Oxbow Lake Evolution in the Gangetic Floodplains

The Indo-Gangetic plains feature numerous oxbow lakes, locally termed chaur or beel. These lakes form when highly mature, meandering rivers cut off a pronounced loop during monsoonal floods to find a shorter path. Kanwar Lake (Kabartal) in Bihar is an example of this geomorphic process, formed by historical changes in the course of the Gandak River, and serves as a major station on the Central Asian Flyway.

Environmental Threats and Conservation Bottlenecks

Anthropogenic Eutrophication and Invasive Species

Runoff containing chemical fertilizers from adjacent agricultural zones and untreated domestic sewage dump large volumes of nitrogen and phosphorus into Ramsar catchments. This nutrient enrichment triggers rapid algal blooms that deplete dissolved oxygen, leading to the collapse of benthic fauna and local fish populations. The uncontrolled proliferation of invasive alien weeds, such as the Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and water fern (Salvinia molesta), creates thick surface mats that block sunlight penetration, disrupting the aquatic food web and choking local navigation channels.

Siltation and Agricultural Reclamation

Deforestation, unscientific road cutting, and livestock overgrazing in upper catchments increase soil erosion. Feeder streams carry this heavy sediment load downstream, where it deposits on wetland beds, systematically reducing their water-holding capacity and flood-attenuation potential. Growing population pressure leads to the conversion of wetland margins into commercial aquaculture ponds (gheries) or urban housing tracts, disrupting natural drainage networks and increasing the risk of urban flash floods.

UPSC Prelims Fact-File and Hydrological Trivia

The Space Shield of Pulicat Lake

The barrier island of Sriharikota, which structurally isolates Pulicat Lake from the open sea, forms the natural geographic location for the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR). The extensive, uninhabited water sheet of the surrounding lagoon provides an important acoustic cushion and safety buffer zone for polar and geosynchronous rocket launch paths.

The Changthang Salt Trading Legacy

The hyper-saline nature of the Tso Kar complex in Ladakh causes a thick white crust of sodium sulfate to deposit along its banks. Historically, this salt was harvested by the local nomadic Changpa tribes for trade across the Tibetan plateau long before the site was designated as a Ramsar wetland.

The Artificial Island of Zaina Lank

Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin of Kashmir constructed an artificial island named Zaina Lank in the middle of Wular Lake during the 15th century. It was engineered using stone masonry to provide a safe anchorage site for boats during sudden monsoonal storms on the open lake.

The Indus Waters Treaty Boundary Node

Harike Wetland in Punjab sits at a critical hydro-geographic node. The water diverted from its barrage via the Indira Gandhi Canal runs through the Thar Desert to Jaisalmer, providing irrigation to western Rajasthan while acting as a strategic geographic buffer zone along the international border with Pakistan.