Book Description

A Ramsar Site is a wetland site, designated to be of international importance. These wetlands are protected under strict guidelines of the Ramsar Convention on wetlands. It provides national action and international cooperation regarding the conservation of wetlands, and wise sustainable use of their resources. The mission of the Ramsar Convention is “Conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world”. The Ramsar Convention, signed in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran, is the only global treaty that focuses specifically on wetlands. The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value. Today 170 nations are signatories to the Ramsar Convention. Ramsar identifies wetlands of international importance, especially those providing waterfowl habitat. Ramsar Sites in India are declared under the Ramsar Convention, which was established by UNESCO in 1971. A site is declared as a Ramsar Wetland Site in India, if it meets any one of the nine criteria set under the Convention of Wetland. India's tally of 49 designated wetlands spread over 10,936 sq km in 18 states and two Union Territories is the largest network of Ramsar Sites in South Asia. Till 2022, the number stood at 37, then 12 sites were added to the list including Thol Lake Bird Sanctuary and Wadhwana Bird Sanctuary in Gujarat. The book Conservation of Thol Lake Bird Sanctuary (Ramsar Site) and Bhaskarpura Wetland focuses on environmental, ecological, and biological studies of two major wetlands of Gujarat viz. Thol Lake Bird Sanctuary and Bhaskarpura Wetland, covering abiotic and biotic components, eutrophication, hydrochemistry, geochemistry, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and waterbirds. The book highlights an in-depth study of surface water and bottom sediment quality, diversity, density, abundance, commonness, rarity of plankton including qualitative and quantitative characters, diversity indices, population dynamics of waterbirds, and correlation between abiotic and biotic components. The book would unquestionably be the need of an hour for wetland managers, wetland conservationists, and policy makers or decision authorities to prevent the unrestrained exploitation of wetland biodiversity, destruction of potential wetland habitats, and uncontrolled interactions of man and technology with lentic ecosystems of the world.