Ramsar tag for 75 Indian wetlands on 75th year of Independence

New Delhi: Eleven Indian sites have been added to the Ramsar list, taking the number of wetlands of international importance in the country to 75 in the 75th year of Independence, the Union Environment Ministry said on Saturday.

The Ramsar list aims at "developing and maintaining an international network of wetlands which are important for the conservation of global biological diversity and for sustaining human life through the maintenance of their ecosystem components, processes and benefits".

Of the 11 sites, four are in Tamil Nadu, three in Odisha, two in Jammu and Kashmir and one each in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

A total of 26 sites were added to the Ramsar list from 1982 to 2013. Since 2014, 49 sites have bagged the coveted tag. Twenty-eight Indian sites have been declared wetlands of international importance this year itself.

The new Indian wetlands of international importance are Chitrangudi Bird Sanctuary, Suchindram Theroor Wetland Complex, Vaduvur Bird Sanctuary and Kanjirankulam Bird Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu; Tampara Lake, Hirakud Reservoir and Ansupa Lake in Odisha; Hygam Wetland Conservation Reserve and Shallbugh Wetland Conservation Reserve in Jammu and Kashmir; Thane Creek in Maharashtra and Yashwant Sagar in Madhya Pradesh.

"The designation of these sites would help in conservation and management of wetlands and wise use of their resources," the environment ministry said in a statement.

Tamil Nadu has the maximum number of Ramsar sites (14), followed by Uttar Pradesh (10).

The 75 Ramsar sites in the country cover an area of 13,26,677 hectares.

India is one of the contracting parties to the Ramsar Convention, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971. New Delhi signed it on February 1, 1982.