As the world observes Wetlands Day on 2 February 2026, India has once again signalled its commitment to wetland conservation by designating two new sites as Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention: the Patna Bird Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh and Chhari-Dhand in Gujarat’s Kutch region. With this addition, India’s Ramsar network now stands at 98 sites, spanning approximately 13.6 lakh hectares (1.36 million hectares), reinforcing the country’s position as a global leader in recognising and safeguarding wetland ecosystems.
The timing of this announcement is more than symbolic. World Wetlands Day offers an opportunity not merely to celebrate wetlands, but to reflect on their indispensable ecological, economic, and social roles—and on the intensifying threats they face. While India’s expanding Ramsar footprint is laudable, the deeper challenge lies beyond designation: ensuring long-term protection, sustainable use, and meaningful local stewardship of these fragile landscapes.
Wetlands are often described as “nature’s kidneys”—ecosystems that filter water, mitigate floods, recharge groundwater, sequester carbon, and sustain extraordinary biodiversity. They underpin livelihoods, support agriculture and fisheries, and act as buffers against climate extremes. Yet, globally and in India, wetlands are among the fastest-disappearing ecosystems. The paradox is stark: even as recognition increases, degradation continues apace.
India’s engagement with wetland conservation must be understood against the backdrop of the Ramsar Convention itself. Formally adopted on 2 February 1971 in Ramsar, Iran, the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat, was among the world’s first multilateral environmental agreements focused on a specific ecosystem. Its central idea of “wise use” sought to reconcile conservation with sustainable human activity, long before such concepts became mainstream in global environmental policy.
India’s early participation reflected foresight. During the Convention’s negotiations, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi deputed Dr Salim Ali, the country’s most distinguished ornithologist, as India’s representative. Ali’s presence underscored an early recognition that protecting habitats was fundamental to conserving biodiversity and placed India firmly within the emerging architecture of global environmental governance.
India’s first Ramsar site, Chilika Lake in Odisha, was designated in 1981. Chilika remains emblematic of India’s wetland wealth: a vast brackish lagoon that supports millions of migratory birds along the Central Asian Flyway, sustains fisheries-based livelihoods, and hosts iconic species such as the Irrawaddy dolphin. Its designation signalled the ecological and cultural centrality of wetlands in the Indian context.
What distinguishes the Ramsar framework even today is its prescient understanding that wetlands are not ecological luxuries but foundational to human survival. Long before climate change entered mainstream discourse, Ramsar recognised wetlands as regulators of hydrological cycles, buffers against extreme weather, and engines of food security. For India, one of the world’s most water-stressed countries, this insight has become increasingly relevant. Rapid urbanisation, erratic monsoons, groundwater depletion, and riverine degradation have turned wetlands into frontline defences against ecological collapse. India’s continued engagement with Ramsar must therefore be seen not merely as environmental diplomacy, but as a strategic response to converging crises of water, climate, and development.
The inclusion of Patna Bird Sanctuary and Chhari-Dhand captures the ecological diversity embedded within India’s wetland systems. Patna Bird Sanctuary, located in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah district, covers just over 108 hectares, but its ecological significance far exceeds its size. Each winter, it becomes a crucial refuge for tens of thousands of migratory waterbirds, including rare and threatened species. The wetland also supports rich aquatic biodiversity and contributes to local hydrological functions such as nutrient cycling and groundwater recharge.
Chhari-Dhand, situated in Gujarat’s Kutch region, represents a markedly different but equally vital wetland type. This seasonal marshland supports a mosaic of grassland and aquatic habitats that sustain migratory birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. Its ecological role extends to enhancing the resilience of the wider Banni grasslands ecosystem. Importantly, its Ramsar designation challenges the persistent bias toward large or visually iconic wetlands by recognising the value of semi-arid and seasonal systems often overlooked in conservation planning.
Beyond their individual ecological importance, these two sites also underscore a broader policy imperative: wetlands cannot be assessed solely through the lens of size or permanence. Small, seasonal, and human-adjacent wetlands often play outsized roles in regional hydrology, biodiversity corridors, and climate adaptation. As climate change alters rainfall patterns and increases the frequency of droughts and floods, such wetlands will become even more critical. Their inclusion in the Ramsar list signals a maturing conservation approach; one that values function, connectivity, and resilience over spectacle.
Within India’s federal framework, Tamil Nadu stands out with the highest number of Ramsar sites—20 in total. These span coastal lagoons, estuaries, freshwater lakes, and bird sanctuaries, many of which support dense human populations and livelihoods. Tamil Nadu’s leadership demonstrates how state-level political will, scientific input, and administrative follow-through can translate into tangible conservation outcomes.
Yet this success story also masks a sobering reality. Thousands of wetlands across India remain unrecognised and vulnerable. Urban lakes are choked by sewage and encroachment; rural wetlands are drained for real estate or intensive agriculture; coastal marshes are sacrificed to infrastructure expansion. The loss of these ecosystems erodes natural flood control, weakens groundwater systems, accelerates biodiversity decline, and heightens vulnerability to climate-induced disasters.
Urban India offers perhaps the starkest illustration of this crisis. From Bengaluru’s vanished lake chains to Chennai’s flood-drought paradox, the destruction of urban wetlands has transformed cities into disaster-prone spaces. Wetlands that once absorbed excess rainfall, moderated temperatures, and replenished aquifers have been reduced to dumping grounds or construction sites. The consequences—flash floods during monsoons, acute water scarcity in summers, and escalating public health risks—are now routine, revealing a profound failure to integrate wetlands into urban planning and infrastructure governance.
The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, were designed to address these challenges by providing a regulatory framework for wetland identification and protection. However, gaps in implementation persist, ranging from weak enforcement and fragmented institutional responsibility to limited community participation. Ramsar designation, while valuable, does not automatically translate into effective protection. Without robust local governance, even internationally recognised wetlands remain vulnerable to gradual degradation.
Closing the gap between recognition and protection requires moving beyond symbolic conservation to systemic action. India’s experience with Ramsar sites itself reveals this disconnect. Deepor Beel in Assam, designated in 2002, continues to suffer from encroachment, waste dumping, and infrastructure pressure. Vembanad-Kol in Kerala faces declining water quality, land reclamation, and invasive species, despite its critical role in flood mitigation—starkly exposed during the 2018 floods. The East Kolkata Wetlands, internationally celebrated for their sewage-fed ecology, remain under persistent pressure from real estate expansion and urban infrastructure projects. These cases underline a hard truth: international designation alone cannot safeguard wetlands without strong enforcement, local accountability, and sustained political will.
Wetlands must therefore be managed not as isolated sites, but as integral components of broader hydrological and ecological landscapes. This demands stronger coordination among national, state, and local institutions, regular ecological monitoring, and clear accountability mechanisms. Equally vital is participatory governance. Communities that depend on wetlands—farmers, fishers, pastoralists, and indigenous groups—must be treated as partners and custodians rather than obstacles to conservation. Wetland protection must also be embedded within climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and water security strategies, recognising wetlands as critical natural infrastructure rather than expendable land banks.
Scientific research and data-driven management must underpin this transition. Long-term ecological monitoring, climate impact assessments, and biodiversity studies are essential for informed and adaptive decision-making. While international frameworks such as the Ramsar Convention provide valuable platforms for cooperation and technical support, their success ultimately hinges on domestic implementation, institutional credibility, and locally grounded stewardship.
As India marks another milestone in its Ramsar journey, wetlands emerge as landscapes of both promise and peril. The designation of Patna Bird Sanctuary and Chhari-Dhand adds momentum to conservation efforts, but it also highlights the scale of what remains to be done beyond officially recognised sites.
This moment also demands a shift in public imagination. Wetlands are too often perceived as wastelands: mosquito-ridden, unproductive, and expendable. Such perceptions have legitimised their systematic erasure from development plans. Reframing wetlands as assets of national importance, akin to forests, rivers, and coastlines, is essential to building durable public and political support for their protection.
India’s wetlands deserve more than ceremonial recognition. They require sustained political attention, scientific rigour, and democratic participation in decision-making. In an era of climate uncertainty and water insecurity, safeguarding wetlands is not optional—it is foundational to India’s ecological resilience and developmental future. World Wetlands Day 2026 must therefore serve not merely as a moment of reflection, but as a mandate to act—decisively, inclusively, and without delay.
Amal Chandra is an author, policy analyst, and columnist. He tweets at @ens_socialis.
Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth