Startsapuk Tso, Tso Kar lake declared as Ramsar sites

NEW DELHI

One more wetland in India has been added to the list of recognised sites of international importance under the treaty of Ramsar Convention, taking the number of such wetlands in the country to 42, the highest in South Asia.

The latest site to be added to the list is a high-altitude wetland complex of two connected lakes, Startsapuk Tso and Tso Kar, in Ladakh.

In a tweet, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said, “Happy to share that high-altitude wetland complex in Changthang region of Ladakh is recognised as a wetland of international importance. The complex is a notable example of two connected lakes, the freshwater Startsapuk Tso and the hypersaline Tso Kar. Now, India has 42 Ramsar sites.”

The other Ramsar sites in India include Chilika Lake in Odisha, Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan, Harike Lake in Punjab, Loktak Lake in Manipur and Wular Lake in Jammu and Kashmir.

The convention, signed in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, is one of the oldest inter-governmental accords for preserving the ecological character of wetlands.

Also known as the Convention on Wetlands, it aims to develop a global network of wetlands for the conservation of biological diversity and for sustaining human life.

Over 170 countries are party to the Ramsar Convention and over 2,000 designated sites covering over 20 crore hectares have been recognised under it. (PTI)

(Edited by Christopher Gatphoh)