Montreux Record

Topic: Biodiversity and its Conservation · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Montreux Record is a list of Ramsar sites, kept under the Ramsar Convention, whose ecological character (natural health) has changed, is changing or is likely to change because of human activity. Sites on it get priority attention for repair. For India, it works like a report card. Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan) and Loktak Lake (Manipur) are on it now. Chilika (Odisha) was taken off in 2002 after it was restored.

Explanation

What the list is and how it works

• The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty that protects wetlands of international importance.
• It was signed at Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971 and came into force in 1975.

• India joined in 1982.

• Every protected wetland under the treaty is a Ramsar site. All of them together form the main Ramsar List.

• The Montreux Record is a smaller list inside that system. It holds only the sites that are in trouble.
• It is named after Montreux, a town in Switzerland.
• How a site gets on the list:
• a human activity harms the wetland, such as a dam, silt, pollution or taking too much water
• the wetland's water, plants, birds or fish start to decline
• the country, with the Ramsar Convention, places the site on the Montreux Record

• the site then gets priority attention: closer monitoring, expert advice and a recovery plan

• How a site leaves the list:

• the country repairs the damage
• the wetland's natural balance comes back
• the site is removed. It stays a Ramsar site; only its "in trouble" label goes.

Why Indian sites are on it

Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan)

• It is one of India's first two Ramsar sites, designated on 1 October 1981 [2].
• The park does not get enough water.
• Invasive weeds are spreading. These are plants that are not native to the area and crowd out local plants.
• Less water and more weeds mean less food and shelter for water birds.

Loktak Lake (Manipur)

• It was designated a Ramsar site in 1990 [2].
• Silt: soil washed in from the hills is slowly filling the lake.
• Ithai barrage: this structure changed the lake's natural rise and fall of water levels.
• Together, these upset the lake's plants, fish and wildlife.

How Chilika got off the list

• Chilika Lake (Odisha) is a lagoon: a body of salty or brackish (half-salty) water cut off from the sea by a sand bar.
• It was designated a Ramsar site on 1 October 1981 [2]. It covers 1,16,500 ha [2].
• The problem: the lagoon's link to the sea had become choked, so salt water and fresh water no longer mixed properly.
• The fix, step by step:
• a new channel was cut to the sea
• salt water and fresh water mixed properly again

• fish catch and wildlife recovered

• The result: Chilika was removed from the Montreux Record in 2002. It was the first Asian site ever removed.

Where it occurs

• Who runs it: the Ramsar Convention (Ramsar, Iran, 1971; in force 1975). It covers Ramsar sites in all member countries.
• India's sites on it now:

Site	State	Ramsar designation	Main problem
Keoladeo National Park	Rajasthan	1 October 1981 [2]	Water shortage, invasive weeds
Loktak Lake	Manipur	1990 [2]	Silt, water levels changed by the Ithai barrage

• Removed: Chilika Lake, Odisha, in 2002.
• Context in India:
• India's Ramsar network grew from 26 sites in 2014 to 101 in 2026 [1].

• Out of all these sites, only Keoladeo and Loktak are on the Montreux Record.

• Who manages wetlands inside India:

• the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017, made under the Environment (Protection) Act 1986
• under these rules, each state's State Wetland Authority lists, notifies and manages its wetlands

Don't confuse with

• Ramsar List: the full list of all wetlands of international importance (India has 101 [1]). The Montreux Record is a small part of it, holding only the sites in trouble.
• Removed from the Montreux Record vs removed as a Ramsar site: when Chilika left the Montreux Record in 2002, it remained a Ramsar site. Coming off the Montreux Record is good news. It is not a loss of status.
• Montreal Protocol / Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework: the similar name is a trap. Montreux is in Switzerland and this record is about wetlands. The Montreal Protocol is about the ozone layer. The Kunming-Montreal Framework (2022) is a CBD target that includes "30x30", meaning protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030.
• IUCN Red List: this lists species at risk, for example the dugong as Vulnerable. The Montreux Record lists places (wetland sites) at risk.

Prelims Hooks

• The Montreux Record is kept under the Ramsar Convention (Ramsar, Iran, 2 February 1971). It lists Ramsar sites whose ecological character is changing because of human activity.
• Indian sites on it now: Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan) and Loktak Lake (Manipur).
• Chilika (Odisha): removed in 2002. It was the first Asian site removed from the record. The trap: "Chilika is on the Montreux Record" is wrong.
• Match the site to its problem: Keoladeo → water shortage and invasive weeds. Loktak → silt and the Ithai barrage. Chilika → fixed by cutting a new channel to the sea.
• Chilika and Keoladeo were India's first two Ramsar sites, both designated on 1 October 1981 [2]. Loktak was designated in 1990 [2].
• A site on the Montreux Record is still a Ramsar site. "Montreux" (Switzerland, wetlands) is not the same as "Montreal" (ozone protocol / biodiversity framework).

Mains Points

• Why Indian wetlands end up on the Montreux Record (GS-III):
• Less water: dams and water diverted upstream starve wetlands. Keoladeo is an example.
• Silt and changed water levels: soil from deforested hills, plus barrages, change the natural flow. The Ithai barrage at Loktak is an example.

• Invasive weeds: they replace native plants and reduce food for birds and fish.

• Restoration works (the Chilika model):

• when the cause was fixed by reconnecting the lagoon to the sea, salt water and fresh water mixed properly again, and fish catch and wildlife recovered

• Chilika left the record in 2002. This shows that a science-based fix that also protects livelihoods can reverse damage.

• What policy still needs (GS-III):

• The Ramsar network grew from 26 sites in 2014 to 101 in 2026 [1], but naming a site does not protect it by itself.
• Each site needs a management plan, assured water flow and catchment treatment (protecting the land that drains into the wetland) to stop silt.
• The Wetlands Rules 2017 and State Wetland Authorities need to deliver these, so that Keoladeo and Loktak can follow Chilika off the list.

Related concepts

• Wetland
• Ramsar Convention
• Ramsar sites of India
• Blue carbon
• Coral bleaching
• Great Barrier Reef
• Dugong
• Olive ridley turtle

Read more

• Wetlands, coasts and seas: Ramsar sites, mangroves, reefs and marine species