In news: It is the first and the only waterbody so far in Karnataka to have the recognition. The renowned Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary in Srirangapatna has been declared a Ramsar site underlining its status as a wetland of international importance.

• This is also the first and the only Ramsar site in Karnataka though India’s tally of such sites stands at 64.
• Ranganathittu meets three to four of the nine criteria pertaining to local flora, fauna, and ecology.
• The bird sanctuary supports more than 1% of the world’s population of spot-billed pelicans — as against a global population of nearly 17,000, Ranganathittu supports about 1,000 of these birds.
• During the last enumeration exercise as many as 220 bird species were listed,
• Similarly, it supports a high population of painted storks and mugger crocodiles besides other species of fish and hence the six islands and the water surrounding them would be part of Ramsar site

Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary

• It is also known as Pakshi Kashi of Karnataka. Ranganatittu is a bird sanctuary in the Mandya District of the state of Karnataka in India.
• It is the largest bird sanctuary in the state, 40 acres in area, and comprises six islets on the banks of the Kaveri river.
• Ranganathittu’s islets were formed when an embankment across the Kaveri river was built between 1645 and 1648 by the then king of Mysore, Kanteerava Narasimharaja Wadiyar.
• These islets, originally numbering 25, soon started attracting birds. The ornithologist Salim Ali observed that the islets formed an important nesting ground for a large variety of birds, and persuaded the king of Mysore to declare the area a protected area in 1940.
• The sanctuary is currently maintained by the Forest Department of Karnataka and efforts are ongoing to improve the sanctuary, including purchasing nearby private land to expand the protected area.
• In 2014, around 28 square km around the sanctuary was declared as an eco-sensitive zone, meaning that certain commercial activities cannot take place without the government’s permission.
• The Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary is situated at 4 Kms. from Srirangapatna and 19 Kms. from Mysore.
• The Bird Sanctuary is named after Sri Ranganatha Swamy, an incarnation of Hindu God Vishnu.
• Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary is an important nesting and breeding ground for thousands of bird species.
• Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary witnesses the arrival of a large number of migratory birds of different flocks from as far as Siberia, North America and Australia.
• The migratory birds start arriving at the Ranganathittu Bird sanctuary in December and the breeding season starts during the winter months and they finally migrate back with their nestlings in August.
• The islands host numerous mammals and migratory birds. Some of them are Bonnet Macaque, colonies of Flying Fox and common small mammals like Indian Gray Mongoose, the monitor lizard and Civet.
• The Marsh Crocodile also called the Mugger Crocodile is a common inhabitant of the riverine reed beds. Migratory water birds include Painted Stork, Asian Openbill Stork, Common Spoonbill, Wooly-necked Stork, Black-headed Ibis, White Ibis, Lesser Whistling Duck, Indian Shag, Stork-billed Kingfisher and other common birds like egrets, cormorants, Oriental Darter, and herons.
• The Great Stone Plover, and River Tern also nest here. It is home to a large flock of Streak-throated Swallows.
• Ranger-guided boat tours of the islands are available throughout the day, and are a good way to watch birds, crocodiles, otters and bats.

Ramsar Recognition

• A Ramsar site is a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, which is also known as the ‘Convention on Wetlands’ — an intergovernmental environmental treaty established by UNESCO in 1971, and named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the convention was signed that year.
• India is a signatory to the Convention on Wetlands and provides a framework for conservation of wetlands
• The convention lists as many as nine criteria and fulfilling even one of them is sufficient for a wetland to be recognised as a Ramsar site.
• Ramsar recognition is the identification of wetlands around the world, which are of international importance, especially if they provide habitat to waterfowl (about 180 species of birds).
• There is international interest and cooperation in the conservation of such wetlands and a judicious use of their resources.
• Sundarbans in West Bengal is the largest Ramsar site in India.
• India’s Ramsar wetlands are spread over 11,000 sq km — around 10% of the total wetland area in the country — across 19 States.
• No other South Asian country has as many sites though this has much to do with India’s geographical breadth and tropical diversity.

There are nine Criteria: One of the nine criteria must be fulfilled to be the Ramsar Site.

• Criterion 1: If it contains a representative, rare, or unique example of a natural or near-natural wetland type found within the appropriate biogeographic region.
• Criterion 2: If it supports vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered species or threatened ecological communities.
• Criterion 3: If it supports populations of plant and/or animal species important for maintaining the biological diversity of a particular biogeographic region.
• Criterion 4: If it supports plant and/or animal species at a critical stage in their life cycles, or provides refuge during adverse conditions.
• Criterion 5: If it regularly supports 20,000 or more waterbirds.
• Criterion 6: If it regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of waterbird.
• Criterion 7: If it supports a significant proportion of indigenous fish subspecies, species or families, life-history stages, species interactions and/or populations that are representative of wetland benefits and/or values and thereby contributes to global biological diversity.
• Criterion 8: If it is an important source of food for fishes, spawning ground, nursery and/or migration path on which fish stocks, either within the wetland or elsewhere, depend.
• Criterion 9: If it regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of wetland-dependent non avian animal species.

Significance:

Ramsar Tag helps develop and maintain an international network of wetlands which are important for the conservation of global biological diversity and for sustaining human life through the maintenance of their ecosystem components, processes and benefits.

Sites are protected under strict guidelines of the convention.