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Take a look at the essential events, concepts, terms, quotes, or phenomena every day and brush up your knowledge. Here’s your UPSC Current Affairs knowledge nugget for today on Wetlands and Ramsar Sites.

India’s Ramsar site tally has reached 103, with the designation of Sukhna Wetland in Chandigarh and Sauj Jheel in Uttar Pradesh as the latest additions to the list.

1. Ramsar sites are also called Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention, an environmental treaty established in 1971.

2. Located at the edge of Chandigarh at the foothills of the Outer Himalayas, and spread over nearly 565 acres, Sukhna wetland is a peri-urban reservoir.

3. It supports a range of habitats, including open water, shoreline vegetation, scrub and forest, making it an important refuge for wildlife amid the urban landscape.

4. It is also a vital life support system and biodiversity hotspot that provides critical habitat for thousands of migratory birds navigating the Central Asian Flyway each year.

5. Sauj Jheel in the state of Uttar Pradesh is a shallow lake surrounded by farmland in the floodplain of the Ganga River. It forms part of a larger network of wetlands, contributing to ecological connectivity in the wider landscape, and is close to Saman Bird Sanctuary.

6. The Site is particularly important for waterbirds, regularly supporting more than 30,000 individuals, and has been designated as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) by Birdlife International.

7. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands defines wetlands as “areas of marsh, fen, peat land or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters.”

8. However, the Indian government’s definition of wetland excludes river channels, paddy fields and other areas where commercial activity takes place.

9. The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, notified by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change definition of wetlands “does not include river channels, paddy fields, human-made water bodies/ tanks specifically constructed for drinking water purposes and structures specifically constructed for aquaculture, salt production, recreation and irrigation purposes.”

10. The Ramsar Convention, an intergovernmental treaty adopted in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, provides a framework for the conservation and wise use of wetlands. India became a party to the convention on February 1, 1982.

11. The Ramsar Convention was the first intergovernmental agreement focused exclusively on a specific ecosystem, i.e. wetlands.

— February 2 is observed annually as World Wetlands Day to raise awareness about conserving one of the most critical ecosystems on the planet. The theme for this year is “Wetlands and traditional knowledge: Celebrating cultural heritage”. 12. The convention rests on the three main pillars: conservation of wetlands of international importance, promotion of the wise use of all wetlands within a country’s territory and international co-operation on shared wetland systems and migratory species.

13. The Convention has 172 signatory countries. They are obligated to create wetland reserves and promote the wise use of wetland habitats. India joined it in 1982, initially designating the Chilika Lake in Odisha and Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan.

14. The designation is for “Wetlands of International Importance”. They are recognised as of significant value not only to the countries in which they are located, but to humanity as a whole. The inclusion of a wetland on the list reflects the government’s commitment to take the necessary steps to ensure its ecological character is maintained.

15. A wetland can qualify for Ramsar status if it meets at least one of the convention’s nine criteria. These include being a rare or unique wetland, supporting threatened species, maintaining regional biodiversity, providing essential habitat during critical stages of wildlife life cycles, or supporting significant populations of waterbirds, fish and other wetland-dependent animals.

16. The criteria include wetlands that regularly support at least 20,000 waterbirds or at least 1 per cent of a particular waterbird species or subspecies.

17. Other criteria recognise wetlands that support threatened species, indigenous fish diversity and important breeding or migration habitats.

1. Wetlands are one of the most productive ecosystems on the planet. They are the transitional ecosystems between terrestrial and aquatic environments, characterised by the presence of water-either permanently or seasonally- that supports diverse plant and animal life.

2. They are rich in biodiversity and play a crucial role in maintaining the ecological balance.

3. Although wetlands constitute only around 6 per cent of the Earth’s Land surface, they provide habitat and breeding grounds for nearly 40 per cent of all plant and animal species.

4. They also provide natural protection to nearly 60 per cent of the global population living along coastlines by mitigating the impact of storm surges, hurricanes and tsunamis.

5. Wetlands also provide provisions to human beings, such as food and fodder, mainly rice and fish, and it also supports livelihoods through fisheries, agriculture and eco-tourism.

6. They act as natural sponges, absorbing excess rainfall, thereby reducing the risk of floods. As effective carbon sinks, wetlands store carbon in both soil and biomass.

7. They are often called the ‘kidneys of the landscape’ due to their ability to filter pollutants, purify water and maintain water quality.

8. Despite their significance, wetlands are also one of the Earth’s most threatened ecosystems. According to the Ramsar Convention’s Global Wetland Outlook (2025), at least 400 million hectares of wetlands have been lost since 1970, with nearly a quarter of those remaining in a degraded state.

9. “Wetlands provide society with up to $39 trillion in benefits each year—but we continue to lose them at a rate of 0.52% annually”, as per the Global Wetland Outlook Report (2025).

10. Land conversion for agriculture, urbanisation and infrastructure development are the leading reasons behind declining wetland areas.

11. Also, industrial and domestic waste pollute water bodies, and unsustainable farming practices disrupt hydrology. Climate change exacerbates these challenges by altering rainfall patterns and increasing the frequency of extreme events.

1. Corals are animals from the phylum Cnidaria. They comprise hundreds to thousands of living organisms called polyps, each only a few millimeters in diameter.

2. Each polyp has stinging tentacles to capture food such as plankton and small fish. It lives in groups of hundreds to thousands of genetically identical polyps known as a ‘colony’, which is recognised as coral.

3. Corals are characterised as either hard or soft coral. The architects of coral reefs are hard corals, which form complex three-dimensional structures over thousands of years.

4. At the coral base is a hard, protective limestone skeleton called a calicle, which forms the structure of coral reefs.

5. Reefs begin when a polyp attaches itself to a rock on the seafloor, then divides, or buds, into thousands of clones. The polyp calicles connect to one another, creating a colony that acts as a single organism.

6. The reason for the colorful appearance of corals is the microscopic algae that live inside coral cells, called zooxanthellae. These algae perform photosynthesis, bringing vital food and nutrients to the corals.

(1) With reference to the Ramsar Convention, consider the following statements:

1. It provides a framework for the conservation and wise use of wetlands.

2. A wetland must satisfy all nine Ramsar criteria to qualify as a Wetland of International Importance.

3. International cooperation on shared wetland systems and migratory species is one of the Convention’s pillars.

1. Under Ramsar Convention, it is mandatory on the part of the Government of India to protect and conserve all the wetlands in the territory of India.

2. The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010 were framed by the Government of India based on the recommendation of Ramsar Convention.

3. The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010 also encompass the drainage area or catchment regions of the wetlands as determined by the authority.

(Sources: Sukhna Lake gets Ramsar tag, puts Chandigarh on global wetland map, Knowledge Nugget: India adds its 100th Ramsar site — Why are wetlands important?, Coral reef translocation & Importance Explained)