Keoladeo National Park

Also called: Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary · Topic: Biodiversity and its Conservation · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 5 "Natural Vegetation"

Meaning

Keoladeo National Park is a wetland national park at Bharatpur, Rajasthan. Every winter, migratory waterbirds fly in from colder lands to live there. A wetland is land covered with shallow water for all or part of the year.

It matters because it carries two global labels. It became a Ramsar site in October 1981, one of India's first two [5]. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. This makes it a favourite Prelims question on "which site has which label".

Explanation

How the wetland works for birds

• Winter brings the birds
• Lands to the north become very cold in winter, and their water freezes.
• Waterbirds fly south to find open water and food.

• The shallow water at Bharatpur gives them food, nesting places and safe places to rest.

• It shelters more than 350 bird species, and some of them are endangered [5].

• The Siberian crane, a large white crane that breeds in Siberia, made the park famous. It was last seen here in 2002. It no longer visits.

Its legal status: a national park

• Under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, a national park is an area kept strictly for wildlife. Its boundaries are fixed by law.
• No forestry, grazing or cultivation is allowed inside a national park.
• Its old name, "Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary", is only a popular name. Its legal status today is a national park, which has stricter rules than a sanctuary.

Its global labels

Label	Year	Under which treaty
Ramsar site	October 1981 (one of India's first two) [5]	Ramsar Convention (1971), a global treaty to protect wetlands
World Heritage Site (natural)	1985	World Heritage Convention (1972) of UNESCO, for places of "outstanding universal value"

• A Ramsar site is a wetland of international importance.
• Global labels bring international monitoring. Keoladeo's water shortages are one problem that is watched closely.

What it needs to survive

• Enough water every year. If too little water reaches the park, the shallow pools dry up → fish, plants and insects decline → birds find less food and come in smaller numbers.
• Strict protection from grazing, farming and other disturbance, as the national park rules require.

Where it occurs

• Location: Bharatpur, in eastern Rajasthan, India.
• India's first two Ramsar sites (1981): Keoladeo (Rajasthan) and Chilika (Odisha) [5].
• 1985 natural World Heritage trio:
• Kaziranga National Park (Assam)
• Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (Assam)

• Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan), the only one of the three outside Assam

• Other wetland sites in the same study note: the Sundarban Wetland, West Bengal (Ramsar site in 2019), is India's largest Ramsar site at about 0.42 million ha [4].

Don't confuse with

• Wildlife sanctuary: despite its old name "Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary", Keoladeo is a national park. A national park bans grazing and cultivation. A sanctuary allows some activities, such as collecting minor forest produce.
• Sundarban Wetland: Keoladeo is one of the first Ramsar sites (1981). The Sundarban Wetland (2019) is the largest Ramsar site in India [4].
• Chilika: it became a Ramsar site in the same year (1981), but it is not a World Heritage Site. Keoladeo holds both labels.
• Ramsar site vs World Heritage Site: Ramsar status (1971 treaty) covers wetlands only. World Heritage status (UNESCO, 1972 treaty) covers natural, cultural or mixed sites. Keoladeo got Ramsar status in 1981 and World Heritage status in 1985.

Prelims Hooks

• Keoladeo → Bharatpur → Rajasthan. It is a wetland national park for migratory waterbirds.
• First Ramsar sites of India (October 1981): Keoladeo and Chilika [5].
• Keoladeo is both a Ramsar site (1981) and a natural World Heritage Site (1985).
• 1985 natural World Heritage Sites: Kaziranga, Manas and Keoladeo. Only Keoladeo is outside Assam.
• Siberian crane: last seen at Keoladeo in 2002. A statement that it "still winters here every year" is wrong.
• It shelters more than 350 bird species, including endangered ones [5].

Mains Points

• Water security decides wetland health (GS-III):
• Keoladeo depends on getting enough water each year.
• Water shortages shrink the pools → less food → fewer birds.

• Its World Heritage and Ramsar status mean the world watches these shortages. This puts pressure on India to secure water for the park.

• The Siberian crane's disappearance shows the limits of protecting one site:

• A migratory bird needs safe breeding grounds, stopover points along its route and wintering grounds.
• Strong protection at Bharatpur alone could not keep the crane coming after 2002.

• Saving migratory species needs cooperation between countries along the whole flyway (the route birds use when they migrate).

• Small, scattered protected areas need wider conservation (GS-III):

• Protected areas cover only about 5.32% of India [2], and national parks only 1.35% [3].
• Wetlands like Keoladeo are islands of habitat. Linking them through corridors, conservation reserves and OECMs (areas outside formal protected areas that still conserve nature) helps India move towards the Kunming-Montreal 30% by 2030 target.

Related concepts

• National park
• Wildlife sanctuary
• Corbett National Park
• Kaziranga National Park
• Great Himalayan National Park
• Sundarbans
• Sundarbans National Park
• Natural World Heritage Sites of India

Read more

• Protected forests and protected areas: national parks, sanctuaries and World Heritage sites