India Adds 5 More Ramsar Sites, Bringing the Total to 54

According to Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav's tweet on Tuesday, India has now added five more Ramsar sites, or internationally significant wetlands, increasing the total to 54. "Happy to inform you that Five more Indian wetlands have got Ramsar status as wetlands of worldwide importance," he tweeted.

These are the Karikili Bird Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu, the Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest and the Pichavaram Mangrove in Madhya Pradesh, and the Pala Wetland in Mizoram.

The Ramsar wetlands of India cover 11,000 square kilometres, or about 10% of the country's total wetland area, and are spread across 18 states. No other South Asian country has as many sites, owing to India's geographical breadth and tropical diversity. The United Kingdom (175) and Mexico (142), both smaller countries than India, have the most Ramsar sites, while Bolivia has the largest area under Convention protection, covering 148,000 square kilometres.

Being designated a Ramsar site does not automatically attract additional international funds, but states- and the Centre-must ensure that these swaths of land are preserved and protected from man-made encroachment. Obtaining this label also improves a location's tourism potential and international visibility. Until 1981, India had 41 Ramsar sites, but the last decade has seen the greatest increase- 13-in the number of new sites designated.

According to the Environment Ministry, a wetland is "an 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 metres, but does not include river channels, paddy fields, man-made water bodies/tanks specifically constructed for drinking water purposes, and structures specifically constructed for drinking water purposes."

To be designated as a Ramsar site, a site must meet at least one of nine criteria defined by the Ramsar Convention of 1961, such as supporting vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered species or threatened ecological communities, or if it regularly supports 20,000 or more waterbirds, or if it is an important source of food for fishes, spawning ground, nursery, and/or migration path on which fish stocks rely.

According to the Indian Space Research Organization's National Wetland Inventory and Assessment, India's wetlands cover approximately 1,52,600 square kilometres, or 4.63 percent of the country's total geographical area. A little more than two-fifths are inland natural wetlands, with the remainder being coastal wetlands. India has 19 different types of wetlands, with Gujarat having the most area, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.

Wetlands in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat provide critical habitat for migratory birds. Wetlands are also known to have high soil-carbon densities and thus play an important role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions.