Gurgaon: For the first time, two Wetlands Haryana – Sultanpur National Park in Gurgaon and Bhindawas Wildlife Reserve in Jhajjar – have been included in the Ramsar list.
The number of protected Ramsar sites in India has now risen to 46, with two more than Gujarat including this year.
The Ramsar site is a wetland of the international interests that have been determined based on the Ramsar Convention criteria for wetlands, 1971.
Ramsar’s status provides legal protection and wetland guidelines for management and will add to Haryana’s efforts to ensure their conservation.
The inclusion of two wetlands was announced on the Ramsar Secretariat website last week, while the State Wildlife Department said the last notification of the Ministry of Environment, forests and climate change could come on August 15.
Haryana has around 1,441 wetlands, but no protected under the Ramsar agreement until now, according to data from the Ministry.
The Forest Department recommends Sultanpur and Bhindawas Wetlands for Ramsar tags on February 2, World Wetlands Day.
While Sultanpur National Park is spread over 353 hectares, Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary covers more than 1,000 hectares.
Both wetlands are natural homes for wealth of bird species and attract a large number of migration birds every year, including black winging, Pond Heron, Pied Kingfisher, Purple Heron, Shoveller, White-Breasted Kingfisher and Prinia.
According to Ramsar documents, “Sultanpur Wetland Harbors who are rich in animal and animal life: this supports more than 220 resident species, winter migration and local migration waters at the critical stage of their life cycle.
More than ten of this globally threatened, including reporting Threatened endangered.
“Meanwhile, Bhindawas Wetland provides safe habitat for many animals and plants, the document said.
A total of 265 bird species have been reported from the site.
More than 30,000 migration birds belonged more than 250 species visiting Bhindawas throughout the year, the document noted.
Haryana is waiting for the two site notices that get Ramsar tags from the center.
“We have continued all the documents needed for the Ministry of Environment.
Furthermore, he sent a proposal to the Ramsar Secretariat in Switzerland.
All the required documentation was completed.
We are still waiting for notification from the Ministry, which will most likely be announced on August 15,” ML MALIK said, Head of Forest Conservator (Wildlife), Haryana Selatan.