Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination (Topic: Centre for Wetland Conservation and Management)

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Centre for Wetland Conservation and Management

Recently, a dedicated Centre for Wetland Conservation and Management (CWCM) has been set up under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, at the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) in Chennai.
The new governmental centre was announced by the Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Babul Supriyo on World Wetland Day on 2 February 2021.

It will address specific research needs and knowledge gaps to address wetlands and their management and bring capacity development and cutting-edge research to wetlands in India.
It is also positioned to apply integrated approaches for conservation, management and wise use of India's 42 globally-significant 'Ramsar' wetland sites.

Wetlands are one of the most important freshwater sources. They also provide various ecological services.
India is extremely rich in terms of wetland diversity and is one of the few countries in the world to have a wetland inventory system, wherein remote sensing techniques have been used to map the wetlands.
Almost 4.6 percent of India's land area is wetlands, spanning 15.26 million hectares.
2021 commemorates the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971 in Ramsar, Iran, which is celebrated annually as "World Wetlands Day" on 2 February.
There are 42 sites in the country that have been designated as Wetlands of International Importance or Ramsar sites.

Ramsar sites are wetlands designated to be of global importance under the Ramsar Convention, also known as the (international) Convention on Wetlands.
The intergovernmental Ramsar treaty was established in 1971 by UNESCO.
It aims to develop a global network of wetlands for conservation of biological diversity and for sustaining human life.

The newly-established CWCM will support partnership and networks with national and international agencies that work on wetlands.
It will allegedly also act as a knowledge hub and facilitate exchanges between States and Union Territory Wetland authorities, users, managers, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners.
The Centre will also help national and State/UT governments plan, monitor, design and implement policy and regulations, as well as carry out targeted research for effective conservation strategies.

In December 2020 – Tso Kar Wetland Complex. It includes two connected lakes, Startsapuk Tso and Tso Kar, in Ladakh.
In November 2020 – Maharashtra – Lonar Lake
In November 2020 – Agra (Uttar Pradesh) – Sur Sarovar also called, Keetham Lake
In November 2020 – Uttarakhand – Asan Barrage
In July 2020 – Bihar – Kanwar Lake or Kabal Taal
In February 2020 – Kolkata – Sunderban Reserve Forest (Sunderban Wetlands)