Udaipur and Indore included in Wetland Accredited Cities List
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Two Indian cities Indore of Madhya Pradesh and Udaipur of Rajasthan have been accredited as the Wetland Cites under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. These Indian cities were part of the 31 cities worldwide which has been granted the prestigious status of Wetland Accredited Cities.
Wetlands are areas on land or coastal areas where water covers the soil or is present either at or near the soil's surface all year or for a particular period during the year.
Earlier the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change nominated three Indian cities Indore and Bhopal of Madhya Pradesh and Udaipur for the inaugural Wetland City Accreditation.
Indore and Udaipur are the first Indian cities to be granted the status of Wetland City Accreditation.
A maximum of 9 cities in China were granted the status of Wetland City Accreditation.
About Indore and Udaipur
Indore was founded by the Holkar dynasty and is the cleanest city in India. Within Indore, there is a Ramsar site, Sirpur Lake which is an important waterbird site.
Udaipur city in Rajasthan is famous as the City of Lakes in India. It is surrounded by
five major wetlands- Rang Sagar, Pichola, Doodh Talai, Fateh Sagar, and Swaroop Sagar.
What is the Wetland City Accreditation?
The 12th meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP) of the Ramsar Convention held in Punta del Este, Uruguay in 2015, introduced a Wetland City Accreditation scheme.
The Wetland City accreditation scheme is a voluntary scheme that recognises cities in 172 member countries for taking steps in safeguarding their natural or human-made wetlands in urban areas.
The Wetland City Accreditation scheme aims to further promote the conservation and wise use of urban and peri-urban wetlands (wetlands that are located around the city and town).
The protected wetlands will promote sustainable socio-economic benefits for local populations.
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
To protect these ecologically fragile wetland sites an international conference was held in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 to build an international consensus on conserving and preserving wetlands worldwide.
The agreement, which is famous as the Ramsar Convention, came into force in 1975.
85 Indian wetlands have been declared as Ramsar sites.
Also Read: Nanjarayan, Kazhuveli & Tawa Reservoir newly added Ramsar Sites
