Three new Ramsar sites in Karnataka

Three Karnataka wetlands – Magadi Kere conservation reserve, Ankasamudra bird conservation reserve and Aghanashini estuary – are among the five new water bodies that on Wednesday received the international Ramsar Convention site status, taking the total number of such protected wetlands to 80 in India.

The two Tamil Nadu wetlands in the list are Karaivetti bird sanctuary and Longwood Shola reserve forest, which is a forested wetland in the Nilgiri hills. With the new inclusion, Tamil Nadu now harbours the maximum number of Ramsar sites (16) followed by Uttar Pradesh (10), says the Union Environment Ministry.

Each of the new wetlands are home to hundreds of bird species including a few threatened ones like Common pochard, River tern and Black-chinned Nilgiri Laughing thrush.

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav received the certificates from Musonda Mumba, the Secretary General of Ramsar Convention who is visiting India.

With a size of more than 4,800 ha, Aghanashini estuary is the largest one. Located in Uttara Kannada district, it supports over 66 waterbird species and over 1% of the biogeographic population of 15 waterbird species including river tern, oriental darter, lesser black-backed gull, woolly- necked stork and Eurasian oystercatcher.

The brackish water of the estuary provides diverse ecosystem services including flood and erosion risk mitigation, biodiversity conservation and livelihood support. It also provides livelihoods to 6,000-7,500 families by supporting fishing, agriculture, collection of edible bivalves and crabs, shrimp aquaculture, traditional fish farming in the estuarine rice fields, bivalve shell collection and salt production.

Other two wetlands are smaller. Ankasamudra is an irrigation tank built centuries ago and spread over an area of 98 ha whereas Magadi Kere is a human-made wetland (54.38 ha) is home to over 166 species of birds, of which 130 are migratory.

The wetland in Gadag district is also one of the largest wintering grounds for the Bar-headed goose in southern India. It is a designated Important Bird Area and listed as a priority area for conservation in India as nearly 8000 birds visit the site in winter.

Ankasamudra in Bellary district is rich in biodiversity, comprising over 210 species of plants, eight species of mammals, 25 species of reptiles, 240 species of birds, 41 species of fishes, three species of frogs, 27 species of butterflies and 32 species of odonates (flying insects), the union environment ministry says in a statement.

Over 30,000 waterbirds nest and roost at this wetland, which also supports more than 1% of the biogeographic population of Painted Stork and Black-headed Ibis.

The recognition for the new Karnataka sites came two years after Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary received the Ramsar tag, making it Karnataka’s first such protected wetland.

For comparison, the first two Indian Ramsar sites were Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan and Chilika Lake in Odisha, both receiving the status in 1981.

India achieved a milestone in August 2022 when the number of Ramsar sites increased to 75 in the 75th Year of independence. Due to a policy push from the Centre, the number of Ramsar sites rose from 26 to 80 in the last ten years, of which 38 have been added in the last three years alone.

Officials said Ramsar Convention Secretary General would be present at Sirpur lake near Indore, a Ramsar site designated in 2022 on Feb 2 to celebrate the World Wetland Day.