India's 10 new wetlands added to Ramsar sites list

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NEW DELHI, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- India has added 10 more wetlands to the Ramsar sites list, taking the number of such sites in the country to 64, officials said Thursday.

The announcement of adding 10 more sites, six in Tamil Nadu and one each in Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, to the list was made by the federal ministry of environment, forest and climate change on Wednesday evening.

"India adds 10 more wetlands designated as Ramsar sites to make total 64 sites covering an area of 1,250,361 hectares in the country," the ministry said. "Designation of these sites would help in conservation and management of wetlands and wise use of their resources."

India is one of the contracting parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971.

"India signed it on 1st Feb 1982. So far 64 wetlands covering an area of 1,250,361 hectares have been designated as Ramsar Sites of International Importance from India, till date," the ministry said.

The six new designated sites in Tamil Nadu are Koonthankulam Bird Sanctuary, Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve, Vembannur Wetland Complex, Vellode Bird Sanctuary, Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary and Udhayamarthandapuram Bird Sanctuary.

The remaining four designated sites are Satkosia Gorge in Odisha, Nanda Lake in Goa, Ranganathituu BS in Karnataka and Sirpur wetland in Madhya Pradesh.

The total area of these 10 wetlands is 151,842.41 hectares.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has expressed happiness for getting the Ramsar recognition to the six sites in the state.

"This takes the Ramsar recognition tally of Tamil Nadu to 10. This international recognition is a matter of great pride and goes hand in hand with Tamil Nadu Wetland Mission. I congratulate Tamil Nadu forest department on this sterling achievement," Stalin said in a brief statement posted on social media.

Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar convention.

The convention on wetlands is an intergovernmental environmental treaty that provides for national action and international cooperation regarding the conservation of wetlands. It identifies wetlands of international importance, especially those providing waterfowl habitat. Enditem

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