India now has 100 Ramsar sites covering roughly 1.39 million hectares (about 13,876 sq km) — the largest network of Wetlands of International Importance in Asia and the third-largest in the world, after the United Kingdom and Mexico. The 100th site, the Jai Prakash Narayan (Surha Tal) Bird Sanctuary in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, was designated on World Environment Day, 5 June 2026. The phrase Ramsar sites in India refers to wetlands designated under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, signed in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971. These sites are not legally protected by the Convention itself; rather, they carry a moral and diplomatic obligation on the host country to maintain their ecological character through what the Convention calls the Wise Use principle.
The expansion of Ramsar sites in India has been rapid in the last five years. India had only twenty-six sites in 2019. Successive additions — twenty-eight between 2022 and 2024 alone — have pushed the country past China in absolute count. The trajectory reflects both a genuine policy push under the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems and the diplomatic value of demonstrating wetland leadership in the run-up to multilateral environmental negotiations.
The Ramsar Convention 1971
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is the oldest of the modern multilateral environmental agreements. It was negotiated through the 1960s by a coalition of waterbird biologists alarmed at the rate of wetland drainage in Europe and North America, and finally opened for signature on 2 February 1971 — a date now observed as World Wetlands Day. India acceded to the Convention in 1981, designating Chilika Lake and Keoladeo as its first two Ramsar sites in the same year.
Mission and Scope
The Convention defines wetlands broadly: “areas of marsh, fen, peatland 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 metres”. Rice paddies, salt pans, reservoirs and even artificial reservoirs can qualify. The Convention’s mission is “the conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local and national actions and international cooperation”.
Governance Architecture
The Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP) meets every three years. A Standing Committee, a Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) and a Secretariat hosted by IUCN in Gland, Switzerland, manage the day-to-day work. India is a Contracting Party and a member of the Standing Committee.
Criteria for Designating Ramsar Sites
A wetland may be designated as a Ramsar site if it meets at least one of nine criteria, grouped into two families.
Group A — Representative, Rare or Unique Wetlands
Criterion 1: containing a representative, rare or unique example of a natural or near-natural wetland type within the appropriate biogeographic region.
Group B — Criteria Based on Species and Ecological Communities
- Criterion 2: supports vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered species.
- Criterion 3: supports populations of plant or animal species important for maintaining the biological diversity of a region.
- Criterion 4: supports species at a critical stage of their life cycles or during adverse conditions.
- Criterion 5: regularly supports 20,000 or more waterbirds.
- Criterion 6: regularly supports 1 percent of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of waterbird.
- Criterion 7: supports a significant proportion of indigenous fish subspecies, species or families.
- Criterion 8: serves as an important food source for fish, spawning ground, nursery or migration path.
- Criterion 9: regularly supports 1 percent of a non-avian wetland-dependent animal population.
A wetland that satisfies even one criterion can be nominated by a Contracting Party.
The Wise Use Principle
Wise Use is the conceptual core of the Convention. The Ramsar definition has evolved over decades and now reads: “the maintenance of the ecological character of wetlands, achieved through the implementation of ecosystem approaches, within the context of sustainable development”. Three points follow:
- Wise Use is not preservation. Human activity — fishing, traditional agriculture, salt farming, regulated tourism — can continue if it does not erode the ecological character.
- Ecological character means the combination of ecosystem components, processes and services that define the wetland at the time of designation.
- Loss of ecological character must be reported under Article 3.2 of the Convention.
The Montreux Record
When a designated Ramsar site experiences, is experiencing or is likely to experience changes in ecological character because of human interference, the Convention can place it on the Montreux Record. The Record is essentially a watchlist that triggers technical assistance — most often through the Ramsar Advisory Mission — and signals diplomatic concern.
India has two sites on the Montreux Record: Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan (added 1990) and Loktak Lake in Manipur (added 1993). Chilika Lake was added in 1993 and successfully removed in 2002 after restoration of its lagoon mouth and salinity regime — a globally cited Wise Use case study.
Why Keoladeo and Loktak Remain Listed
Keoladeo’s wetland character depends on monsoon inflows from the Ajan Bund and the Gambhir and Banganga rivers. Upstream diversions, drought cycles and the loss of grazing buffaloes (which once controlled aquatic vegetation) have repeatedly disrupted its hydrology. Loktak suffers from the proliferation of floating phumdis, declining fish stocks, the Ithai Barrage’s altered flow regime and pressure on the unique habitat of the Sangai (brow-antlered deer) in Keibul Lamjao — the world’s only floating national park.
Distribution of Ramsar Sites in India
The 100 Ramsar sites in India span almost every biogeographic zone, from high-altitude Himalayan lakes to coastal lagoons.
State-Wise Leaders
Tamil Nadu hosts the largest number of Ramsar sites (twenty), followed by Uttar Pradesh (twelve) and Gujarat. Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have also added multiple sites in recent designation rounds. Three states — Sikkim, Mizoram and Manipur in the north-east — have just one each, while Loktak (Manipur) is the largest natural freshwater lake in north-east India.
Major Wetland Types
- High-altitude lakes: Tso Moriri and Tsomgo-area lakes, Chandertal and Pong Dam (Himachal), the recently added Khecheopalri (Sikkim).
- Coastal lagoons and estuaries: Chilika (Odisha), Pulicat (Andhra-Tamil Nadu border), Vembanad-Kol (Kerala), Pichavaram and the Gulf of Mannar mangrove complex (Tamil Nadu).
- Riverine floodplains and oxbow lakes: Kabartal (Bihar), Surinsar-Mansar (Jammu and Kashmir), Sandi and Saman (Uttar Pradesh).
- Reservoirs and human-made wetlands: Bhoj (Madhya Pradesh), Harike (Punjab), Pong Dam, and the Kanjli wetland — demonstrating that human-made waterbodies can hold global value.
- Mangroves: Sundarbans (West Bengal, India’s largest Ramsar site at over 4,200 sq km), Bhitarkanika (Odisha).
- Salt pans and inland brackish systems: Nalsarovar and Khijadia (Gujarat).
Prominent Ramsar Sites in India
Chilika Lake, Odisha
Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon, Chilika spans about 1,100 sq km on India’s east coast. It is a flyway hub for Central Asian migratory birds, home to the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin, and supports the livelihoods of over 200,000 fishers. Chilika’s removal from the Montreux Record in 2002 — after a new lagoon-mouth opening at Satapada reversed siltation and salinity collapse — is a textbook restoration outcome.
Sundarbans, West Bengal
The Indian Sundarbans, designated in 2019, is the world’s largest contiguous mangrove forest, shared with Bangladesh. It hosts the Bengal tiger, estuarine crocodile, river terrapin and a unique salt-tolerant mangrove flora. Climate-driven sea-level rise, cyclone intensification (Aila, Amphan, Yaas) and freshwater diversion are its chief threats.
Keoladeo National Park, Rajasthan
Once the Maharaja of Bharatpur’s hunting reserve, Keoladeo is the only Indian wetland inscribed both as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Ramsar site. It historically hosted the Siberian crane on its wintering grounds; the last confirmed wild flock left around 2002.
Loktak Lake, Manipur
Famous for its floating phumdis — mats of vegetation, soil and organic matter — Loktak shelters the world’s only floating national park, Keibul Lamjao, the last refuge of the Sangai. Loktak Hydroelectric Project (commissioned 1983) has altered the lake’s hydrology and continues to be debated.
Vembanad-Kol, Kerala
India’s longest lake and a Ramsar site since 2002, Vembanad-Kol is a tidally influenced estuarine system fed by ten rivers, supporting paddy cultivation in the Kuttanad polders — one of the few places in the world where farming happens below sea level.
Domestic Legal and Policy Architecture
Ramsar designation does not automatically grant legal protection. India implements its Convention commitments through three principal instruments:
- Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 — under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The rules empower state-level Wetlands Authorities to identify, notify and regulate activities in wetlands. A list of prohibited activities includes encroachment, solid waste dumping, manufacturing of hazardous substances and discharge of untreated effluents.
- National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems (NPCA) — a centrally sponsored scheme that funds catchment treatment, biodiversity inventories and community engagement.
- Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2019 for forested and coastal wetlands respectively.
The Supreme Court’s 2017 order in M. K. Balakrishnan v. Union of India directed the identification and notification of all wetlands above 2.25 hectares. Implementation has been uneven; the National Wetland Inventory has mapped over 7.5 lakh wetlands using satellite imagery, but most are not yet legally notified.
Ramsar and India’s International Posture
Wetland diplomacy connects Ramsar to several other instruments — the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on Migratory Species, and increasingly the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Wetlands are among the most carbon-dense ecosystems on Earth, with peatlands and mangroves storing carbon at densities far above forests. India’s emphasis on Ramsar designations also dovetails with its blue-carbon and coastal resilience priorities. For India’s broader environmental diplomacy, see COP-28 of the UNFCCC and India and the Indo-Pacific.
Way Forward
A larger network of Ramsar sites in India is a beginning, not an outcome. Effective wetland management calls for:
- Notifying boundaries of all designated sites under the 2017 Rules, with clear buffer zones.
- Hydrological connectivity — protecting inflow rivers, springs and groundwater recharge zones, not just the open-water area.
- Catchment-scale planning — wetlands fail when watersheds are degraded.
- Community stewardship — fisher cooperatives, salt-pan workers, paddy farmers and pastoralists are the front-line custodians.
- Climate-adaptive management — anticipating sea-level rise in mangroves, glacial retreat for Himalayan lakes, and shifting bird flyways.
- Removing Keoladeo and Loktak from the Montreux Record through measurable ecological restoration.
The Ramsar sites in India represent both an opportunity and a responsibility. They are reservoirs of biodiversity, providers of ecosystem services worth billions, and laboratories for the Wise Use idea — that conservation and human well-being are not separate accounts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Ramsar sites does India have in 2026?
India currently has 100 Ramsar sites, covering approximately 1.39 million hectares. The 100th, the Jai Prakash Narayan (Surha Tal) Bird Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh, was designated on World Environment Day, 5 June 2026. The count has grown rapidly from twenty-six sites in 2019.
Which is the largest Ramsar site in India?
The Sundarbans in West Bengal, designated in 2019, is India’s largest Ramsar site at over 4,200 square kilometres.
Which is the first Ramsar site in India?
Chilika Lake in Odisha and Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan were India’s first two Ramsar sites, both designated in 1981.
What is the Montreux Record?
The Montreux Record is a watchlist within the Ramsar Convention of designated wetlands where ecological character has changed, is changing, or is likely to change due to human interference. Two Indian sites — Keoladeo and Loktak — are on the Record.
What is the Wise Use principle?
Wise Use is the Convention’s core principle, defined as the maintenance of the ecological character of wetlands through ecosystem approaches within sustainable development. It allows traditional and regulated human activity but prohibits degradation of ecological character.
Which Indian state has the most Ramsar sites?
Tamil Nadu hosts the largest number, with twenty Ramsar sites, followed by Uttar Pradesh with twelve.
Is the Ramsar Convention legally binding in India?
The Convention itself does not directly bind domestic land use. India fulfils its commitments through the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, and related laws. Designation imposes a diplomatic obligation to maintain ecological character.
How are wetlands different from other ecosystems?
Wetlands are transitional ecosystems between aquatic and terrestrial systems, characterised by water-saturated soils for at least part of the year. They provide flood control, water purification, fisheries, carbon storage and habitat for migratory species.
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