Why is it in the news?
→ Two wetlands added to India’s Ramsar network ahead of World Wetlands Day.
Category: Environment
Important Points
- Newly designated sites: Patna Bird Sanctuary (Uttar Pradesh) and Chhari-Dhand Wetland (Kutch, Gujarat).
- Patna Bird Sanctuary comprises freshwater marshes, woodlands, and grasslands amid agriculture.
- Designated Important Bird and Biodiversity Area by BirdLife International.
- Hosts 178 bird species and 252 plant species.
- Chhari-Dhand is a seasonal saline wetland between Banni grasslands and Kutch salt flats.
- Important wintering site for waterfowl.
- Supports critically endangered sociable lapwing.
- Also supports vulnerable common pochard and common cranes (Grus grus) annually.