SULTANPUR NATIONAL PARK GETS RAMSAR TAG
GURUGRAM: The Sultanpur National Park was notified as a Ramsar site, a wetland of international importance, by the union environment ministry on Saturday, a move that is expected to boost wildlife protection and tourism in the region, said officials. The Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary was also notified as a Ramsar site, making these two the first such sites of international importance in Haryana.
The ministry of environment forest and climate change, in a tweet on Saturday, stated, “Four more sites in India get declared as Ramsar sites. These are Thol and Wadhwana from Gujarat and Sultanpur and Bhindawas from Haryana. With this, the number of Ramsar sites in India is 46 and the surface area covered by these sites is now 1,083,322 hectares.”
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty adopted on February 2, 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar, on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea. It came into force in India on February 1, 1982, under which wetlands of international importance are declared as Ramsar sites.
The Sultanpur National Park supports more than 220 species of resident, winter migratory and local migratory waterbirds at critical stages of their life cycles. The site supports more than 10 globally threatened species, including the endangered Egyptian vulture, steppe Eagle, Pallas’s fish eagle, and black-bellied tern, which are also found at the Bhindawas sanctuary.
The Bhindawas sanctuary, the largest wetland in Haryana, is a man-made freshwater wetland. Over 250 bird species use this sanctuary throughout the year as resting and roosting sites.
Officials said that by being declared a Ramsar site, restrictions on construction activities and non-forest activities come into effect around the wetland for increased protection. The Gurugram wildlife department is awaiting formal notification from higher authorities.
“Being declared as a Ramsar site will help us protect and preserve these wetlands in a better manner,” an official of the district wildlife department said.