Context: Recently, the Lonar Lake in Maharashtra and Sur Sarovar, also known as Keetham lake, in Agra, have been added to the list of recognised Ramsar sites.

About Lonar Lake

• The Lonar lake, situated in the Deccan Plateau’s volcanic basalt rock, was created by the impact of a meteor 35,000 to 50,000 years ago.
• The lake is part of Lonar Wildlife Sanctuary which falls under the unified control of the Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR).
• It is also known as Lonar crater and is a notified National Geo-heritage Monument. Geo-heritage refers to the geological features which are inherently or culturally significant offering insight to earth’s evolution or history to earth science or that can be utilized for education.
• It is the second Ramsar site in Maharashtra after Nandur Madhmeshwar Bird Sanctuary in Nashik district.
• The water in the lake is highly saline and alkaline, containing special microorganisms like anaerobes, Cyanobacteria and phytoplankton.

About Soor Sarovar Lake

• It is also known as Keetham lake situated within the Soor Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, which was declared as a bird sanctuary in the year 1991.
• This lake is situated alongside river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh.
• The Soor Sarovar bird sanctuary covered an area of 7.97 sq km.
• It is today home to more than 165 species of migratory and resident birds.
• It also has a Bear Rescue centre for rescued dancing bears.

Benefits

• With Ramsar status, the sites will benefit in terms of international publicity and prestige.
• They will get Financial aid through the convention’s grant and also access to expert advice on national and site-related problems.

Context: Kabartal Wetland of Bihar designated as Ramsar sites, making them ‘Wetlands of International Importance’.

• Along with that Asan Conservation Reserve (Uttrakhand) also designated.{ Check:https://abhipedia.abhimanu.com/Article/IAS/MjMyMzkw/Asan-Conservation-Reserve--Uttarakhand-s-first-wetland-into-Ramsar-list-Environment-and-Ecology-IAS }

Kabartal Wetland

• Also known as Kanwar Jheel, it covers 2,620 hectares of the Indo-Gangetic plains in the Begusarai district of Bihar.
• It acts as a vital flood buffer for the region besides providing livelihood opportunities to local communities.
• Significant biodiversity is present, with 165 plant species and 394 animal species recorded, including 221 bird species. It is also a valuable site for fish biodiversity with over 50 species documented.
• It is an important stopover along the Central Asian Flyway, with 58 migratory waterbirds using it to rest and refuel.
• Five critically endangered species inhabit the site, including three vultures – the red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) and Indian vulture (Gyps indicus) – and two waterbirds, the sociable lapwing (Vanellus gregarius) and Baer’s pochard (Aythya baeri).
• Major threats to the Site include water management activities such as drainage, water abstraction, damming and canalization.

Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

• The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and came into force in 1975.
• The convention entered into force in India on 1 February 1982.
• It is the intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.