Three of Northeast India's most important ecosystems - Rudrasagar Lake in Tripura, Deepor Beel in Assam and Loktak Lake in Manipur - face serious threats from encroachment and pollution and urgent steps must be taken to conserve them, environmentalists say."Though all the three lakes are categorised as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, the government has done little

GUWAHATI, May 5

Ramsar East Asia Centre director Seung-oh Suh said conservation of wetlands and their resources were essential for human beings and maintaining ecosystems.

Drying up of wetland usually affects the livelihood of thousands of people adversely, said Suh while addressing a four-day

The 18th Amendment Implementation Commission seems hesitant to oblige environmentalists` proposal to transform the Ministry of Environment into Sustainable Development and Renewable Resource Management Division, Dawn has learnt.

KANNUR: Kattampally wetland area in Kannur district, known for its migratory bird sanctuary, is likely to be included in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

Siliguri, Feb.

New Delhi: The Okhla Bird Sanctuary might have benefited a great deal from international cooperation had the government made efforts to have it classified as a Ramsar site. This tag for wetlands is equivalent to a UNESCO status for heritage sites.

The notification of the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010 has provided a legal framework for protecting an ecosystem that has come under serious threat from unregulated development activity. Wetlands provide a range of ecosystem services, not the least of which is water security to vast regions housing millions of people.

The Mahul-Sewri mudflats are one of the 160 wetlands in the country which qualify for the Ramsar Criteria, according to the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), which released the list on the eve of World Wetlands Day.

The Mahul-Sewri mudflats have been the homes for thousands of migratory birds, mostly flamingos.