Ramsar sites are wetlands of international importance designated under the Ramsar Convention, an intergovernmental treaty for the conservation and wise use of wetlands signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971.
- Wetlands are areas of marsh, fen, peatland, or water, natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, including lakes, rivers, mangroves, and coral reefs; they store water, recharge groundwater, control floods, and host rich biodiversity.
- India is a party to the Ramsar Convention (acceded 1982) and now has over eighty Ramsar sites, the largest number in Asia.
- India's first Ramsar sites were Chilika Lake (Odisha) and Keoladeo National Park or Bharatpur (Rajasthan), both designated in 1981.
- Notable sites include Wular Lake and Hokersar (Jammu and Kashmir), Loktak Lake (Manipur, famous for its floating phumdis), Sambhar (Rajasthan), Sundarban (West Bengal), and Point Calimere (Tamil Nadu).
- The Montreux Record lists Ramsar sites where ecological character is threatened; India's Keoladeo and Loktak have featured on it. Wetlands in India are also protected under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017.
The 1971 Ramsar Convention, Chilika and Keoladeo as the first Indian sites, India's large site count, and the Montreux Record are recurring environment facts.
Ramsar (international wetland treaty, 1971) versus the World Heritage list (UNESCO); the Montreux Record is the at-risk list, not the main list; Loktak (floating phumdis) versus Wular (largest freshwater lake in India). Verify the latest Ramsar site count.
Wetlands of international importance under the 1971 Ramsar Convention; India's first were Chilika and Keoladeo, and India leads Asia in site count.