From 26 to 101: Arunachal Gets Its First Ramsar Site, and India Passes a Century of Them
Summary
Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav announced on 3 August 2026 the designation of Glaw Lake in Arunachal Pradesh as India's 101st Ramsar Site, making it the State's first wetland of international importance.
●The lake lies within the Kamlang Tiger Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary, is a pristine freshwater lake in the Eastern Himalayas fed by perennial mountain streams, and is surrounded by dense vegetation; over 150 tree species and 49 orchid species have been recorded within the site and its catchment.
●The Minister noted that India's Ramsar network has grown from 26 sites in 2014 to 101 today.
●The designation extends coverage into a State that previously had none, addressing a distributional gap in a region of exceptional wetland diversity.
●For an aspirant, the case tests whether a growing count of designated sites can be read as evidence of improving wetland conservation.
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and in force from 1975, making it one of the oldest modern multilateral environmental agreements and the only one devoted to a single ecosystem type.
●Parties designate wetlands of international importance, which enter the List of Wetlands of International Importance, and undertake to maintain their ecological character and to promote the wise use of all wetlands in their territory.
●A site qualifies if it meets any one of nine criteria, covering representative or unique wetland types, support for vulnerable species or threatened ecological communities, significant waterbird populations, and importance for fish or other taxa.
●Notably, there is no minimum area threshold — qualification turns on ecological character rather than extent.
●Where the ecological character of a listed site changes or is likely to change, it can be placed on the Montreux Record.
●India acceded in 1982, and its domestic instrument is the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017.
Ramsar qualification turns on ecological criteria, not size — and designation obliges a party to maintain a site's character, not merely to name it.
◎ In Simple Words
A lake in Arunachal Pradesh has been added to an international list of important wetlands, and it is the first place in that State to be included. The forest around the lake holds more than 150 kinds of trees and 49 kinds of orchids, and the lake sits inside a tiger reserve. India now has 101 such listed wetlands, up from 26 about a decade ago.
Factual Pointers
Practice · 2 questions
The Montreux Record under the Ramsar Convention refers to:
Which of the following statements about the Ramsar Convention is correct?
Protected Areas & Wetlands
This sub-topic has appeared in 7 UPSC Prelims questions.