Ramsar sites                                                                                                                               

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Context: The Union Environment Ministry had notified two new Ramsar sites — Khijadiya wildlife sanctuary in Gujarat and Bakhira wildlife sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh.

About Khijadiya wildlife sanctuary:

• Location: Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary is a bird sanctuary located in Gujarat, India.
• Uniqueness:
• It have both fresh water lakes, salt and freshwater marshlands.
• The critically endangered Indian bdellium-tree (Commiphora wightii) found here.
• It is a freshwater wetland near the coast of the Gulf of Kutch.
• It is located at the watershed of Ruparel river and Kalindri at the North East coastal region of Jamnagar district in the Gulf of Kutch.
• The sanctuary is now part of Marine National Park, Jamnagar, the first marine national park in the country.
• It is located near Narara Island, and has a bio-diversified coral reef.
• The Site contributes to the maintenance of hydrological regimes, erosion protection and nutrient cycling. It is used for recreation and tourism, and scientific and educational activities

About Bakhira wildlife sanctuary:

• Location: The Bakhira Bird Sanctuary is the largest natural flood plain wetland of India located in Uttar Pradesh.
• The Grey-headed swamphen also called the Indian Purple moorhen is common breeding resident of this sanctuary.
• This Sanctuary was established in 1980.
• It is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act (1972); an “eco-sensitive zone” extends up to a kilometre around its boundary.
• It is internationally important for its birdlife as it supports over 80 species that migrate on the Central Asian Flyway.

Total no. of Ramsar sites in India: Presently, India has a network of 49 such sites, the highest in South Asia.

The Ramsar Convention 

• It is an international treaty for the conservation and wise use of wetlands. 
• It is named after the Iranian city of Ramsar, on the Caspian Sea, where the treaty was signed on February 2, 1971.
• The aim of the Ramsar list is “to develop and maintain an international network of wetlands which are important for the conservation of global biological diversity and for sustaining human life through the maintenance of their ecosystem components, processes and benefits”.

Ramsar sites in India: 

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/two-more-ramsar-sites-announced-on-world-wetlands-day-7753955/