Ramsar sites status for Udhwa bird sanctuary

Dumka: The Udhwa bird sanctuary in Sahibganj was on Saturday enlisted in the international ‘Ramsar convention sites', popularly known as ‘Ramsar sites', on the eve of the World Wetlands Day.
Spread over 565 hectares of wetland comprising Barhel and Patauda lakes, the Udhwa bird sanctuary attracts migratory birds from faraway countries during winter. The considerable rise in the number of purple moorhen, constituting over one per cent of its total number across the world, has contributed to this achievement for the Udhwa bird sanctuary.It is among the four new sites in the country to receive the tag. The three other new sites are Sakkarakottai bird sanctuary and Therthangal bird sanctuary in Tamil Nadu, besides Khecheopalri wetland in Sikkim.
Speaking to the TOI, Sahibganj deputy commissioner (DC) Hemant Sati, who sent the proposal to the Union govt to be forwarded to the Ramsar convention secretariat in Switzerland, termed the development a landmark. "The Ramsar tag for the Udhwa bird sanctuary will henceforth ensure foreign funds for the preservation of the site, besides attracting scientists from across the world to study the ecosystem that play a strategic role in maintaining ecological balance," he said.
Geologist and environmentalist Ranjit Kumar Singh said, "Ornithologists arrive here to study the behaviour, physiology, and habitat of a myriad species of birds, including rare and migratory ones, which visit the sanctuary mostly in winter."
The Ramsar tag was introduced in 1971 in an international convention held in the Iranian city of Ramsar. It provides a framework for the conservation and use of wetlands, numbering 2,529 across the globe, and their resources across its 172-member countries, including India.