Two more Ramsar sites in India

The Kabartal Wetland in Bihar and Asan Conservation Reserve in Uttrakhand have been designated as Ramsar sites and ‘Wetlands of International Importance’.

• The Kabartal Wetland in Bihar and Asan Conservation Reserve in Uttrakhand have been designated as Ramsar sites and ‘Wetlands of International Importance’.
  • Kabartal Wetland also called as Kanwar Jheel.
  • It protects the 2,620 hectares of the Indo-Gangetic plains in the Begusarai district of Bihar by acting as an important flood buffer for the area.
  • Biodiversity : 165 plant species and 394 animal species recorded, including 221 bird species.
  • Valuable site for fish biodiversity with over 50 species recorded.
  • Also an important stopover along the Central Asian Flyway, with 58 migratory water birds using it to relax and refuel.
  • Five important endangered species live in the site, including three vultures – the red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) and Indian vulture (Gyps indicus) – and two waterbirds, the sociable lapwing (Vanellus gregarius) and Baer’s pochard (Aythya baeri).
  • Major warnings to the Site contain water management projet such as drainage, water abstraction, damming and canalization.
•  Asan Conservation Reserve
  • It is a 444-hectare stretch of the Asan River running down to its convergence with the Yamuna River in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand.
  • It is Uttarakhand’s first Ramsar Site.
  • The damming of the River by the Asan Barrage in 1967 follows in siltation above the dam wall, which supports to create some of the Site’s bird-friendly habitats.
  • These habitats have upto 330 type of birds as well as the critically endangered red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) and Baer’s pochard (Aythya baeri).
  • Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty signed in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, on the southern shore of the Caspian. It came into effect for India on 1st February, 1982. The wetlands which are of international importance are proclaiming as Ramsar sites.