Aligarh’s Sheikha Jheel Bird Sanctuary gets Ramsar site tag

• Sheikha Jheel Bird Sanctuary in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh has been designated as a Ramsar site, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav announced on April 22.

• With this, India now has 99 Ramsar sites. Out of these, 12 are from Uttar Pradesh.

Sheikha Jheel Bird Sanctuary

• Sheikha Jheel Bird Sanctuary is situated in Koil Tehsil in Aligarh district.

• This partially human-made wetland complex, comprising Sheikha Jheel Lake and surrounding deciduous forest, was formed following the construction in the 1850s of the Upper Ganges Canal, which flows adjacent to the site. 

• The transition between the open water body and the forest has created ecological niches, resulting in a large variety of plant and animal species. 

• This biodiversity is reflected in the presence of 249 bird species, among which 62 are wetland dependent. 

• Notable birds include the vulnerable Indian river tern (Sterna aurantia) and sarus crane (Grus antigone). 

• Owing to its importance for bird conservation, the site has been designated as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) by BirdLife International. 

• The site also supports other water-dependent species, such as three threatened turtle species: the black pond turtle (Geoclemys hamiltonii), Indian flap-shelled turtle (Lissemys punctata), and Ganges soft-shelled turtle (Nilssonia gangetica).

What is the Ramsar Convention?

• The Ramsar List is the world’s largest network of protected areas. There are over 2,500 Ramsar Sites, covering more than 2.5 million square kilometres.

• The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty signed by 173 countries to protect wetlands. 

• It is named after the city in Iran where it was signed, and it began with 18 countries in 1971.

• The convention 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.

• It is one of the largest international agreements, after the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, 196 countries) and the UN climate agreement (UNFCCC, 197 countries).

• India ratified the convention on February 1, 1982.

• The first Site was the Cobourg Peninsula in Australia, designated in 1974. The largest Sites are Rio Negro in Brazil (120,000 sq km), and Ngiri-Tumba-Maindombe in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Queen Maud Gulf in Canada. These Sites each cover over 60,000 sq km.

• The countries with the most Sites are the United Kingdom with 176 and Mexico with 144. Brazil has the largest area with 267,000 square km under the Convention protection; Bolivia, Canada, Chad, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Russian Federation have also each designated over 100,000 square km.

What are wetlands?

• Wetlands are ecosystems where water is the primary factor controlling the environment and the associated plant and animal life. 

• Wetlands are land areas that are saturated or flooded with water either permanently or seasonally. Inland wetlands include marshes, ponds, lakes, fens, rivers, floodplains and swamps. 

• Coastal wetlands include saltwater marshes, estuaries, mangroves, lagoons and even coral reefs. Fish ponds, rice paddies and saltpans are man-made wetlands.

• Wetlands provide a wide range of important resources and ecosystem services such as food, water, fibre, groundwater recharge, water purification, flood moderation, erosion control and climate regulation.

• They are, in fact, a major source of water and our main supply of freshwater comes from an array of wetlands which help soak rainfall and recharge groundwater.

• Though they cover only around 6 per cent of the Earth’s land surface, 40 per cent of all plant and animal species live or breed in wetlands. 

• Wetland biodiversity matters for our health, our food supply, for tourism and for jobs. Wetlands are vital for humans, for other ecosystems and for our climate, providing essential ecosystem services such as water regulation, including flood control and water purification. 

• More than a billion people across the world depend on wetlands for their livelihoods – that’s about one in eight people on Earth.

• Every year, February 2 is observed as World Wetlands Day to raise global awareness about the vital role of wetlands for our planet. This day also marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on February 2, 1971, in Ramsar, Iran.