Ramsar Convention

Also called: Convention on Wetlands · Topic: Biodiversity and its Conservation · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 5 "Natural Vegetation"

Meaning

The Ramsar Convention (also called the Convention on Wetlands) is an international treaty, signed at Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971, under which countries list and protect wetlands of international importance.

• It is the main global treaty for wetlands (land covered by shallow water, all year or for part of the year).
• India now has 101 Ramsar sites, the most in Asia [3]. This makes the Convention a common topic in Prelims and in current affairs.

Explanation

How the Convention works

• Signed: at Ramsar, a town on Iran's Caspian Sea coast, on 2 February 1971.

• That date is now celebrated every year as World Wetlands Day.

• Came into force: in 1975.

• What member countries do:
• each country names its important wetlands as Ramsar sites
• these sites join a global list of wetlands of international importance

• the country promises to look after them and use them wisely

• Its own treaty: it is older than the Earth Summit (1992) and the CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity), and it is separate from both.

What counts as a wetland

Type	What it is	Indian example
Marsh	Low, wet land with grasses and reeds	Pallikaranai Marsh, Chennai (Tamil Nadu)
Lake	Inland body of still water	Loktak (Manipur), Wular (J&K)
Lagoon	Salty or brackish water cut off from the sea by a sand bar	Chilika (Odisha)
Mangrove	Salt-tolerant forest in deltas and estuaries on tropical coasts	Sundarbans (West Bengal), Bhitarkanika (Odisha)
Floodplain	Flat land beside a river that floods each year	Upper Ganga River stretch (Uttar Pradesh)
Paddy field	Man-made seasonal wetland	Flooded rice fields across India

• Why wetlands are worth protecting:
• they work like sponges: they soak up floodwater and refill groundwater
• they clean water by trapping silt and pollutants

• they are breeding and nursing grounds for fish and birds

• Wetland area in India (NCERT): 3.9 million hectares, about 70% of it under paddy. This is an old figure, and newer wetland atlas data may differ.

Montreux Record: the Convention's "danger list"

• Montreux Record: a list, kept under the Ramsar Convention, of Ramsar sites whose ecological health is getting worse because of human activity. Sites on it get priority attention.
• Indian sites on it now:
• Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan): the park is short of water, and invasive weeds are spreading

• Loktak Lake (Manipur): silt is filling the lake, and the Ithai barrage changed its water levels

• Chilika (Odisha) was removed in 2002. How it recovered:

• a new channel was cut through to the sea
• salt water and fresh water mixed properly again

• the fish catch and wildlife recovered

• Chilika was the first Asian site to be removed from the Montreux Record.

How India puts it into practice

• India joined in 1982. Its first two sites, Chilika Lake (Odisha) and Keoladeo Ghana National Park (Rajasthan), carry the designation date 1 October 1981 and were formally declared in 1982 [4].
• Domestic law: the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017, made under the Environment (Protection) Act 1986.
• Under these rules, each state sets up a State Wetland Authority.

• The authority lists, notifies and manages the wetlands in its state.

• How fast the network grew: from 26 sites in 2014 to 101 in 2026 [3].

Where it occurs

India's Ramsar network (2026)

• Official list of 21 April 2026: 99 sites in 26 States/UTs, covering 13,84,181 ha (about 13.8 lakh ha) [4].
• 99th: Sheikha (Shekha) Jheel Bird Sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh. It took UP to 12 sites [4][5].
• 100th (June 2026): Surha Tal, the Jai Prakash Narayan Bird Sanctuary, Ballia district, Uttar Pradesh. It is rich in migratory and resident birds [2].
• 101st (August 2026): Glaw Lake, the first Ramsar site in Arunachal Pradesh [3].
• It is a freshwater lake in the Eastern Himalayas.
• It lies inside the Kamlang Tiger Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Over 150 tree species and 49 orchid species have been recorded there [3].

States with the most sites (list of 21 April 2026)

Rank	State	Sites
1	Tamil Nadu	20 [4] (18 in August 2024 [6])
2	Uttar Pradesh	12 [4]; 13 with Surha Tal [2]
3 (tie)	Bihar, Odisha, Punjab	6 each [4]

Largest and smallest sites

Site	State	Area (ha)
Sundarban Wetland (2019)	West Bengal	4,23,000, the largest [4]
Vembanad-Kol Wetland (2002)	Kerala	1,51,250 [4]
Chilika Lake (1981)	Odisha	1,16,500 [4]
Renuka Wetland / Vembannur Wetland Complex	Himachal Pradesh / Tamil Nadu	20 each, the smallest [4]

Other sites to remember

• Designated in 1990: Wular (J&K), Loktak (Manipur), Sambhar (Rajasthan) and Harike (Punjab) [4].
• Coastal and marine sites:
• Bhitarkanika Mangroves, Odisha (2002; 65,000 ha) [4]
• Point Calimere, Tamil Nadu (2002) [4]
• Pichavaram Mangrove, Tamil Nadu (2022) [4]
• Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve, Tamil Nadu (2022; 52,672 ha) [4]
• Thane Creek, Maharashtra (2022) [4]
• Aghanashini Estuary, Karnataka (2023) [4]

World: the treaty town, Ramsar, lies on the Caspian Sea coast of Iran.

Don't confuse with

• Montreux Record: the Ramsar list holds all wetlands of international importance. The Montreux Record holds only the Ramsar sites whose health is getting worse. Keoladeo and Loktak are on it. Chilika is not; it was removed in 2002.
• CBD / Earth Summit (1992): Ramsar (1971) is older and is a separate treaty. It is not part of the CBD.
• Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017: these are Indian domestic rules under the Environment (Protection) Act 1986, run through State Wetland Authorities. Ramsar is an international treaty.
• 1971 vs 1975 vs 1982: the treaty was signed in 1971 (now World Wetlands Day, 2 February), came into force in 1975, and India joined in 1982. India's first sites carry the date 1 October 1981 [4].

Prelims Hooks

• Ramsar Convention: signed at Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971 (World Wetlands Day); in force in 1975; India joined in 1982.
• India's first Ramsar sites: Chilika (Odisha) and Keoladeo (Rajasthan), both dated 1 October 1981 [4].
• 100th site: Surha Tal (Jai Prakash Narayan Bird Sanctuary), Ballia, UP [2]. 101st: Glaw Lake, Arunachal Pradesh's first, in the Kamlang Tiger Reserve [3].
• Most sites: Tamil Nadu (20), then Uttar Pradesh (12, rising to 13 with Surha Tal) [4][2]. Largest site: Sundarban Wetland, 4,23,000 ha [4].
• Trap: "Chilika is on the Montreux Record" is wrong. It was removed in 2002. Keoladeo and Loktak are on the list now.
• Ramsar sites in India are managed under the Wetlands Rules 2017 (Environment (Protection) Act 1986) through State Wetland Authorities.

Mains Points

• Why wetlands are being lost (GS-III):
• farming, cities and dams take over wetland land
• silt fills them up (Loktak), invasive weeds spread, and water supply drops (Keoladeo)

• Response: the Wetlands Rules 2017 and State Wetland Authorities. The Ramsar network grew from 26 sites (2014) to 101 (2026) [3].

• Restoration works:

• Chilika was taken off the Montreux Record in 2002
• it recovered after a new sea channel brought back the right salt and fresh water mix

• this is a model for Keoladeo and Loktak, which are still on the list

• Gaps that remain:

• most Ramsar sites are inland bird sanctuaries, and coastal and marine wetlands have fewer sites
• designating a site does not protect it unless it has a management plan
• wetlands that protect the coast, such as the Sundarbans and Bhitarkanika mangroves, need extra attention because they also store blue carbon (carbon locked away in coastal soils)

Related concepts

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

Read more

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