On December 24, 2020, Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC), Prakash Javadekar announced that Tso Kar Wetland complex in Changthang region, Ladakh has been added to the list of Ramsar Sites (Wetlands of International Importance). It will be India’s 42nd site & UT Ladakh’s 2nd Ramsar Site.
- Tso Kar Wetland complex is the 2, 443rd site of Ramsar.
- Tso Kar Wetland Complex consists of 2 principal waterbodies – Startsapuk Tso, a freshwater lake & Tso Kar, a hypersaline lake.
- The complex is situated 4, 500 metres above sea level.
- India has the highest number(42 Sites) Ramsar Sites in South Asia.
Key Points:
i.The name ‘Tso Kar’ refers to white salt efflorescence on margins of the lake caused by evaporation of saline waters. Tso Kar covers 9, 577 hectares of land.
ii.Tso Kar is an A1 Category Important Bird Area (IBA) as per Bird Life International and is an important place of stopover for migratory birds in the Central Asian Flyway.
iii.In November, 2020, Sur Sarovar Lake in Agra, Uttar Pradesh & Lonar Lake in Maharashtra were added as the 40th & 41st Ramsar sites in India.
Note – On 2002 Tso Moriri or Lake Moriri or “Mountain Lake” was the 1st site in Ladakh to get Ramsar recoginsation.
Biodiversity:
i.The site attracts a large number of threatened species such as Endangered saker Falcon (Falco cherrug) and Asiatic wild dog or dhole (Cuon alpinus laniger) & snow leopard (Panthera uncia).
ii.It is one of the most important breeding areas in India for the black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis) & others birds such as Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps Cristatus), Bar-headed Geese (Anser Indicus), Ruddy Shelduck (Tadornaferruginea), Brown-headed Gull (Larus Bunocephalus), Lesser Sand-Plover (Charadrius Mongolus) and many other species.
Importance of Wetlands:
i.Wetlands are vital for human survival, they are the cradles of biological diversity upon which various species of plants & animals depend for survival.
ii.Ramsar convention’s definition of wetlands includes – lakes, rivers, underground aquifers, swamps & marshes, wet grasslands, peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas & tidal flats, mangroves & other coastal areas, coral reefs.
iii.It also adds human-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs & salt pans.
Ramsar Convention
i.The Ramsar Convention was signed in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran. It came into force in India on February 1, 1982.
ii.It aims to create a global network of wetlands to preserve biological diversity in order to sustain human life.
iii.The wetlands which are of international importance are declared as Ramsar sites.
Recent Related News:
i.On November 15, 2020 Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister of MoEFCC announced that Sur Sarovar also known as Keetham Lake in Agra, Uttar Pradesh and Lonar Lake in Maharashtra has been added to the ‘Ramsar Sites’.
ii.On October 16, 2020 Ramsar Convention declared Kabartal Wetland also known as Kanwar Jheel in Begusarai, Bihar as a site of international importance.
About Ramsar Convention:
Secretary General – Martha Rojas Urrego
Secretariat – Gland, Switzerland
