Wetland Mitra (Caretaker) will be Selected for the Maintenance of Wetlands in Bihar. | 11 Sep 2023

Why In News?

According to the information received from the media on September 10, 2023, health cards of 45 wetlands are being made in Bihar and Wetland Mitra (caretakers) will be selected to look after the wetlands.

key points

• Health cards of 45 wetlands spread over 10 thousand 778 hectares in 10 districts of the state are being made. Its objective is to make an action plan for their development and utilization.
• These ten districts include Muzaffarpur, Begusarai, Khagaria, Samastipur, Purnia, Katihar, Bhagalpur, Munger, Lakhisarai, Buxar. Of these, Samastipur district has a maximum 11 wetlands covering about 3910 hectares.
• The state is preparing to send a proposal to the Central Government to declare four wetlands in four districts as Ramsar sites. These include Udaipur Lake spread over about 319.7 hectares in West Champaran district, Vikramshila Dolphin Sanctuary spread over about six thousand hectares in Bhagalpur district, Gogabil Lake spread over about 137 hectares in Katihar district and Gokul Reservoir spread over about 125 hectares in Buxar district.
• At present, Kanwartal of Begusarai district has been declared Ramsar site in the state.
• What is the Ramsar site?
• Ramsar sites are declared wetlands that meet international standards. Collaboration is done by other organizations of the world including UNESCO to conserve and promote the wetlands declared as Ramsar sites of the world. The Wetlands Conference was held in Ramsar, Iran in 1971. Many countries signed the treaty, in which India was also included.