Ramsar Convention

Presentation by Hari Sharma(luitel)

M-Tech (Civil and Environmental Engineering)LPU

Mission goal

“the conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world”.

Basic

• Ramsar Convention is formally known as Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat.

• It was signed on 2 February 1971 at Ramsar in Iran. That date is celebrated as World Wetland Day now.

Objective interpretation

Ramsar Convention has two fold objectives viz.

• Conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands;

• Stop the encroachment and loss of wetlands.

Know how

• The convention was developed and adopted by participating nations at a meeting in Ramsar, Mazandaran, Iran, on 2 February 1971, hosted by the Iranian Department of Environment, and came into force on 21 December 1975.

and

• Presently there are 169 contracting parties, up from 21 initial signatory nations in 1971.

• There is a standing committee, a scientific review panel, and a secretariat. The headquarters is located in Gland, Switzerland, shared with the IUCN.

Basically What is wetland?

A wetland is a land area that is saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally, such that it takes on the

characteristics of a distinct ecosystem.

Hope you know what is ecosystem!

Lets check our knowledge

Guess the correct picture of wetland

lakeYes or No

RiverYes or no

swampYes or no

GrasslandYes or no

Under ground aquiferYes or no

MarshYes or no

peatlandYes or no

oasisYes or no

DeltaYes or no

estuaryYes or no

Fish pondYes or no

mangroveYe or no

Rice paddyYes or no

ReservoirYes or no

Salt panYes or no

Lets see how much your are right according to the

Ramsar convention

According to Ramsar convention all the picture shown are included in

its definition of the wetland

Why should I care aboutWetlands ?

• Wetlands provide fresh water

• Wetlands feed humanity

• Wetlands are nature’s shock absorbers

• Wetlands are critical for biodiversity

• Wetlands create sustainable products and livelihoods

And ….

• Wetlands are disappearing fast

• Recent estimates show that 64 % or more of the world’s wetlands have disappeared since 1900.

the main causes of the degradationand loss of wetlands are:

––Major changes in land use, especially• increased agriculture and grazing

––Water diversion through dams,• dykes and canalization

––Infrastructure development,• particularly in urban areas, river valleys and coastal

areas.

Knowing two very important term in

advance

Two important term

Ramsar list"wetlands should be selected

for the list on account of their international significance in termsof ecology, botany, zoology, limnology or hydrology.“

They are recognized as being of significant value not only for the country or the countries in which they are located, but for humanity as a whole.

• Montreux Record The Montreux Record is a register of listed Ramsar sites where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a result of technological developments, pollution or other human interference.

How does Ramsar convention work?

• First of all a country joins the Ramsar Convention.

Once a country has joined, there are three commitments which it has to fulfill as obligations:

1

• It has to designate at least one of its wetlands into the List of Wetlands of International Importance called “Ramsar List”

2

• The country has to make all efforts for wise use and conservation of the Ramsar Sites in its territory. Being a part of Ramsar convention gives it access to know-how of conservation in different parts of the world.

3

• If the ecological character of any Ramsar wetland has changed, or is changing or is likely to change as the result of technological developments, pollution or other human interference, it will inform without delay to the Ramsar Secretariat.

Once this information has been provided to Ramsar Secretariat, it will do the following

• Enter the wetland into its Montreux Record• Send a Ramsar Advisory Mission to the country.

This mission will analyse the situation and define how to tackle the threats to the wetland.

• Once the appropriate measures have been taken, the site will be removed from Montreux Record

Ramsar Classification System for Wetland Type

• Marine/coastal wetlands

• Inland wetlands

• Human-made wetlands

India

• India became a contracting party to the Ramsar Convention in October 1981 and designated Chilika Lake (Odisha) and Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan) as its first two Ramsar Sites.

and

• Four additional sites were designated in 1990: Sambhar Lake (Rajasthan), Loktak Lake (Manipur), Harike Lake (Punjab) and Wular Lake (Jammu & Kashmir).

Currently, India has 26 Ramsar Sites

Jammu and kashmir any guesses ??

Jammu & Kashmir

• Hokera Wetland• Surinsar-Mansar Lakes • Tsomoriri • Wular Lake

Punjab

Punjab

Harike Lake (Harike Wetland and the lake are manmade and were formed by constructingthe head works across the Sutlej river, in 1953)

Kanjli

Ropar

Fact sheet

• The Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance now includes 2228 Sites

• covering over (531,056,120 acres)• The country with the highest number of Sites

is the United Kingdom at 170 • the country with the greatest area of listed

wetlands is Bolivia, with over 140,000 km2 (54,000 sq mi)

ALSO

• Currently, two wetlands of India are in Montreux record viz. Keoladeo National Park, Rajasthan and Loktak Lake, Manipur. Further, Chilka lake was placed in the record but was later removed from it.

And

• Renuka Wetland (This is smallest wetland of India) which is in HP.

• Vembanad-Kol Wetland (Largest Wetland of India) Kerala

Thank you