Environment and Ecology Part 4: Ramsar Wetlands and the Conservation Rs 100-Crore Question, Exam-Ready Notes

Category: Civil Exams · Series: Environment and Ecology · Read time: ~11 minutes

Wetlands are the densest fact-cluster in environment preparation: one convention, two Indian laws, 91 sites, and a recurring budget headline. Questions here are pure recall precision — site-to-state matching, the Montreux Record, the rules-versus-Act distinction, and the money. This note arranges all of it for direct exam use.

Table of Contents

1. The Ramsar Convention: The Card
2. India’s Ramsar Journey: The Number Ladder
3. The Ramsar Map by Region and State
4. The Montreux Record and India’s Entries
5. The Domestic Frame: Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017
6. The Rs 100-Crore Question and Scheme Politics
7. How Exams Probe This Topic
8. Quick Revision: One-Glance Facts

1. The Ramsar Convention: The Card

• The basics. Signed 10 February 1971 at Ramsar, Iran; in force 1975; the world’s oldest modern global environmental treaty. India is a party since 1 February 1982.
• The nodal ministry. MoEFCC is the implementing authority in India.
• The criteria. A site qualifies under one of nine criteria (Groups A/B), including representative/rare wetland types (Criterion 1) and the 1%-of-population thresholds for waterbirds (Criteria 5, 6).
• The designations. Two Ramsar labels: Ramsar Site (conservation prestige) and Wetland of International Importance — same thing; plus the Montreux Record for sites “in danger” (see section 4).
• The days. World Wetlands Day — 2 February (Ramsar adoption anniversary).
• The partners. Ramsar works with IUCN (host of the secretariat in Gland, Switzerland) and BirdLife International among International Organisation Partners.

2. India’s Ramsar Journey: The Number Ladder

• 1981: Chilika (Odisha) and Keoladeo (Rajasthan) — India’s first two.
• 2012: 26 sites. The list then crawled for a decade.
• The surge: from 26 (2012) → 75 (2023, centenary-year push) → 85 (Jan 2025, adding Tamil Nadu’s three) → 91 sites (Aug 2025) — the leap from 85 to 91 came in three tranches during 2025: three in June (Pulicat Lake and Kandaleru – Palemadu in Andhra Pradesh, Thane Creek in Maharashtra) and three in August (Nanjarayan Bird Sanctuary and Kazhuveli Bird Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu; Tawa Reservoir, Madhya Pradesh). India now has the third-largest Ramsar network in the world and the largest in Asia, covering ~1.34 million hectares.
• The exam point: the number moves every few months — always confirm the current count against MoEFCC’s latest release before your exam; questions are set off the latest count as of the notification date.

3. The Ramsar Map by Region and State

The matching questions come from this spine. Anchor by superlatives first, then state clusters:

• Tamil Nadu leads with 20 sites (largest state count), anchored by Point Calimere, Vembanad-Kol (India’s longest lake and largest Ramsar site by area at ~1,51,250 ha on the Kerala side — note Vembanad is Kerala’s, TN’s anchors are its coastal lagoons and bird sanctuaries; keep the states straight, that’s the trap), Chilika (Odisha) is the largest brackish-water lagoon in Asia.
• UP: Upper Ganga River (Brijghat to Narora stretch) — a riverine Ramsar site, a favourite MCQ twist.
• Himalayan/high-altitude: Hokera and Surinsar-Mansar (J&K), Wular (largest freshwater lake of the Himalayan region), Tsomoriri (Ladakh — highest Ramsar site region in India), Deepor Beel (Assam, the only Ramsar site in the Northeast).
• Rajasthan: Keoladeo (the classic freshwater bird site) and Sambhar (India’s largest inland saline lake, also a Montreux candidate historically).
• West coast: Nalsarovar (Gujarat), Ashtamudi and Vembanad (Kerala’s two), Thane Creek (Maharashtra, city-site, flamingo hub).
• Recent-trophy sites to memorise individually: Sundarbans (W.B.), Bhitarkanika (Odisha), Tawa Reservoir (MP, 2025), Nawabganj (UP), and the 2024/25 additions — Sikkim’s Khangchendzonga high-altitude complex (first for Sikkim) where notified.

4. The Montreux Record and India’s Entries

• What it is. A register of Ramsar sites where adverse ecological change is occurring or likely — “in danger” listing, intended to trigger priority attention.
• India’s entries. Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan) and Loktak Lake (Manipur) — added 1990 and 1993; both still on the record. Chilika was on the record (1993) and was removed in 2002 after restoration — a beloved MCQ.
• Why Loktak: the floating phumdis and Keibul Lamjao (the world’s only floating national park, home of the sangai deer) face hydrological and biomass threats — links to Part 3’s species questions.

5. The Domestic Frame: Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017

• The card. Notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 — not separate legislation; replaced the 2010 Rules.
• The scope. Covers notified wetlands over 2.25 ha and (new in 2017) High Altitude Wetlands and Riverine wetlands; coastal regulation zone wetlands are excluded (governed by CRZ norms) — a top MCQ trap.
• The authority. State/UT Wetlands Authorities; the National Wetlands Committee (under MoEFCC) oversees — no central clearance; states prepare Brief Documents, Management Action Plans.
• The restrictions. Prohibited: conversion for non-wetland use, encroachment, solid-waste dumping, construction of permanent nature (with exceptions); regulated: activities within the zone of influence.
• The gap. No wetland-specific statute; India’s wetlands otherwise fall under the Water Act 1974, EP Act 1986, and judicial pronouncements (the Supreme Court’s 2017 M.K. Balakrishnan ruling directing identification of 2 lakh+ wetlands under the Wetlands Atlas — a mains favourite).

6. The Rs 100-Crore Question and Scheme Politics

• The headline. In Budget 2025-26 the government announced Rs 100 crore for wetland conservation alongside the PM Vidyalakshmi row — more precisely, the July 2024 Budget allocated ~Rs 100 crore specifically for the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems (NPCA)-adjacent wetland programme: the framing exams use is “a modest central outlay against 91 internationally important sites.”
• The scheme stack. NPCA merges the earlier National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) and National Wetlands Conservation Programme (NWCP). It funds Management Action Plans via states.
• The criticism. Rs 100 crore across 90-plus sites works out to roughly a crore per site — critics flag urban sewage, encroachment and climate-driven hydrological change as needing multiples of this. Also: only Ramsar sites get attention, while ~7.5 lakh smaller wetlands (per ISRO’s Wetlands Atlas: 4.7% of India’s area) lack legal notification.
• The mains angle. “Ramsar designation is recognition, not protection.” Pair the numbers with Amrit Dharohar (2023 scheme for Ramsar-centred tourism and livelihoods) and the 2017 SC order for a balanced answer.

7. How Exams Probe This Topic

• Match-sets: site ↔ state (Tawa–MP, Kazhuveli–TN, Deepor Beel–Assam); site ↔ type (Sambhar–saline, Wular–freshwater Himalayan).
• Statement checks: “The 2017 Wetlands Rules were notified under the Water Act” — false (EP Act 1986). “Chilika is on the Montreux Record” — false (removed 2002). “India has the largest Ramsar network in Asia” — true.
• Number card: 91 sites (Aug 2025), third-largest globally, TN leads with 20; Ramsar treaty 1971, India party 1982.
• Mains framing: “Wetland conservation in India is designation-rich and implementation-poor. Examine” — deploy the Rs 100-crore outlay, Montreux cases, 2017 Rules’ scope gaps, and Amrit Dharohar.

8. Quick Revision: One-Glance Facts

• Ramsar: 1971 Iran, India 1982, 9 criteria, secretariat with IUCN (Gland).
• India: 91 sites (Aug 2025) — third-largest globally, largest in Asia; first sites Chilika + Keoladeo (1981).
• State leaders: Tamil Nadu 20; UP has the Ganga riverine site.
• Montreux: Keoladeo, Loktak; Chilika removed 2002.
• Law: Wetlands Rules 2017 under EP Act 1986; CRZ wetlands excluded; National Wetlands Committee; M.K. Balakrishnan (2017) SC order.
• Money: ~Rs 100-crore central outlay debate; NPCA scheme; Amrit Dharohar 2023.
• Day: 2 February, World Wetlands Day.

Conclusion. Ramsar questions are won by the map and the number card, not by reading broadly. Drill the state-wise anchors, keep the current site count updated to your exam month, and master the two Montreux pairings plus the 2017 Rules’ statutory basis — that combination covers virtually every question UPSC and state PSCs have asked from this topic, and the Rs 100-crore debate gives your mains answers the contemporary edge selectors reward.