Mains Paper 3,Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following points are important :
Prelims level : Ramsar sites in India
Mains level : Ramsar Convention
Ramsar has declared 10 more wetland sites from India as sites of international importance.
News Ramsar Wetlands
With this, the numbers of Ramsar sites in India are now 37 and the surface area covered by these sites is now 1,067,939 hectares.
Maharashtra gets its first Ramsar site (Nandur Madhameshwar) ,
Punjab which already had 3 Ramsar sites adds 3 more (Keshopur-Miani, Beas Conservation Reserve, Nangal) and
UP with 1 Ramsar site has added 6 more (Nawabganj, Parvati Agra, Saman, Samaspur, Sandi and Sarsai Nawar).
Why conserve wetlands?
Wetlands provide a wide range of important resources and ecosystem services such as food, water, fibre, groundwater recharge, water purification, flood moderation, erosion control and climate regulation.
They are, in fact, are a major source of water and our main supply of freshwater comes from an array of wetlands which help soak rainfall and recharge groundwater.
Back2Basics
The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (better known as the Ramsar Convention) is an international agreement promoting the conservation and wise use of wetlands.
It is the only global treaty to focus on a single ecosystem.
Major changes in land use for agriculture and grazing, water diversion for dams and canals and infrastructure development are considered to be some of the main causes of loss and degradation of wetlands.
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