In October 2026, India's tally of Ramsar Sites reached 103 with the addition of Sukhna Wetland in Chandigarh and Sauj Jheel in Uttar Pradesh. The network now covers over 13.87 lakh hectares across 28 states and union territories, making India the country with the most Ramsar Sites in Asia and the third highest globally. Tamil Nadu leads among states with 20 sites, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 14. The jump from 26 sites in 2014 to 103 today is striking. But the number only matters if it is backed by governance that can hold.
The Ramsar Convention, adopted in 1971 at Ramsar in Iran and entered into force in 1975, is the oldest intergovernmental environmental treaty still in operation. India acceded in 1982. The convention rests on three pillars: wise use of all wetlands through sustainable ecosystem-based management; designation and effective management of wetlands of international importance; and international cooperation on shared wetlands, transboundary water systems, and migratory species. A site qualifies under any of nine criteria spanning representativeness of wetland type, support for threatened species or ecological communities, waterbird populations, fish diversity, and wetland-dependent non-avian animals. Meeting even one criterion is sufficient for designation.
International listing without domestic law is an empty gesture. India's primary regulatory instrument is the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The Rules establish State and UT Wetland Authorities, prohibit encroachment, solid-waste dumping, and discharge of untreated effluents into notified wetlands, and deem every Ramsar Site automatically notified under the Rules, requiring an Integrated Management Plan.
Above that sits the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems (NPCA), a centrally sponsored scheme that integrates lake and wetland conservation funding. Its revised guidelines issued in 2024 push for scientific and integrated management rather than piecemeal interventions. The Amrit Dharohar scheme adds another layer, promoting conservation values at Ramsar Sites through species and habitat work, nature tourism, livelihood development, and wetland carbon assessment; flora and fauna inventories have been completed for 75 Ramsar Sites and carbon stock assessments at 39. For coastal wetlands specifically, the Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes (MISHTI) targets restoration of 540 sq km of mangroves across nine states and four union territories, linking ecological recovery to coastal livelihoods.
The ecological and socioeconomic range across India's Ramsar network is considerable. Sundarban Wetland in West Bengal, the largest at approximately 4.23 lakh hectares, holds over 60 per cent of India's mangrove area and protects coastal settlements from cyclones and saltwater intrusion. East Kolkata Wetlands perform a different function: roughly 4,000 hectares of fish ponds naturally treat the city's wastewater while sustaining local fisheries, a case where conservation and urban utility are inseparable. Beas Conservation Reserve in Punjab supports India's only known population of the Indus River dolphin, illustrating how designation can anchor species recovery.
The story of Chilika Lake in Odisha is perhaps the most instructive. Once placed on the Montreux Record, the Ramsar Convention's register of sites where ecological character has changed or is likely to change due to human interference, Chilika was removed in 2002 after documented restoration. The Chilika Development Authority subsequently received the Ramsar Wetland Conservation Award. The Montreux Record is not a punishment; it is a monitoring instrument that directs priority attention and resources, and removal from it is a measurable conservation outcome.
Designation itself carries formal obligations. The Ramsar Information Sheet for each site must be updated every six years, and the ecological character of the site must be monitored regularly. Failure to do so is not merely a procedural lapse — it undermines the credibility of the entire network. The Wetland City Accreditation of Indore and Udaipur in January 2025, making them India's first Ramsar-accredited wetland cities, extends this logic to urban governance, recognising that conservation commitments must reach city administrations, not just forest departments.
The 103-site network is best understood not as a conservation achievement already secured, but as a set of legally grounded, internationally monitored commitments that now require sustained scientific, financial, and institutional follow-through at every level of government.
With reference to the Ramsar Convention, which of the following statements is correct?
Which of the following correctly describes the Montreux Record in the context of the Ramsar Convention?
With reference to India's Amrit Dharohar scheme, which of the following activities is NOT mentioned in the article as part of its scope?
