Ladakh’s Tso Kar Wetland Complex now a Wetland of International Importance

Context

  • India has added Tso Kar Wetland Complex in Ladakh as its 42nd Ramsar site, which is a second one in the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh.

About Tso Kar Wetland Complex

  • The Tso Kar Basin is a high-altitude wetland complex, consisting of two principal waterbodies, Startsapuk Tso, a freshwater lake of about 438 hectares to the south, and Tso Kar itself, a hypersaline lake of 1800 hectares to the north, situated in the Changthang region of Ladakh, India.
  • It is called Tso Kar, meaning white lake, because of the white salt efflorescence found on the margins due to the evaporation of highly saline water. Tso Kar Wetland Complex
  • The Tso Kar Basin is an A1 Category Important Bird Area (IBA) as per Bird Life International and a key staging site in the Central Asian Flyway.
  • The site is also one of the most important breeding areas of the Black-necked Crane (Grus nigricollis) in India.
  • This IBA is also the major breeding area for Great Crested Grebe (Podicepscristatus), Bar-headed Geese (Anserindicus), Ruddy Shelduck (Tadornaferruginea), Brown-headed Gull (Larusbrunnicephalus), Lesser Sand-Plover (Charadriusmongolus) and many other species.
  • The name Tso Kar refers to the white salt efflorescence on the margins of the lake caused by the evaporation of the saline waters.
  • The local climate is arid, and glacial meltwater is the primary water source for the lakes.
  • The lakes and in particular the presence of fresh water attract biodiversity in a biologically sparse region.
  • Inhabiting numerous threatened species including the endangered saker falcon (Falco cherrug) and Asiatic wild dog or dhole (Cuon alpinus laniger), and the vulnerable snow leopard (Panthera uncia).

Note: 👉Recently added Ramsar Sites in 2020 from India
__________
➖Tso Kar Wetland Complex -Ladakh

➖Nandur Madhameshwar -Maharashtra,

➖Keshopur-Miani, Beas Conservation Reserve and Nangal – Punjab

➖Nawabganj, Parvati Agra, Saman, Samaspur, Sandi and SarsaiNawar -Uttar Pradesh

➖Lonar lake -Maharashtra

➖Sur Sarovar, also known as Keetham lake, in Agra-Uttar Pradesh

➖Kabartal – Bihar

➖Asan Conservation Reserve -Uttarakhand

Source: PIB

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