India gets first Ramsar site within an urban metropolis in Maharashtra

Maharashtra's Thane Creek was on Saturday designated as a Ramsar site, a wetland of international significance.

This is the first time a wetland in India located within an urban metropolis has received such a designation.

Encompassing a total area of 6,522.5 hectares of which 1,690.5 ha has been declared as the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary (TCFS) and 4,832 hectares notified as Eco Sensitive Zone around the Sanctuary, this is now the largest wetland area declared as a Ramsar site in Maharashtra.

The state now has three Ramsar sites, after the 801-hectare Nandur Madhmeshwar in Nashik district, and the 427-hectare Lonar Lake in Buldhana district were declared Ramsar sites in January and November 2020 respectively.

As the Ramsar Convention communicated the development to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on Saturday, the latest announcement by the Ramsar Convention comes less than a month after 15 Ramsar sites were added for the country, and on Saturday another 11 Ramsar sites were added taking the tally to 75, the highest for any country across South Asia.

Virendra Tiwari, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Mangrove Cell said: “The value of this wetland is now recognised as contributing to global biodiversity. We are committed to safeguarding this area, administering it in accordance with international standards, and making sure biodiversity is sustained over the long term.”

A Ramsar site is a wetland area that the Ramsar Convention has identified as being of international significance. The Ramsar Convention is an international environmental agreement that establishes the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. The Convention on Wetlands is another name for it. It has the name of the Iranian city of Ramsar, where the agreement was formally adopted in 1971.

The Maharashtra State Mangrove Cell first proposed Thane creek as a Ramsar site on July 8, 2021. The proposal was authorised by the Maharashtra Environment and Climate Change Department on December 9, 2021, but it wasn't until February 12 of this year that it was formally sent to the MoEFCC by the Maharashtra government.