Wetlands in India

Definition of Wetlands ..

Wetlands are the ecotones or transitional zones between permanently aquatic and dry terrestrial ecosystems. Ramsar Convention has defined wetlands as "areas of marsh, fen , peatland or water, whether natural or artifical, permanent or temporary with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low t ide does not exceed six meters". A wides variet y of wetlands like marshes, swamps, open wat er bodies, mangroves and tidal flats and salt marshes etc. exists in our country.

Sr. No.	Name of Wetland	Date of declaration	State
1	Ashtamudi Wetland	19/08/02	Kerala
2	Bhitarkanika Mangroves	19/08/02	Orissa
3	Bhoj Wetland	19/08/02	Madhya Pradesh
4	Chandertal Wetland	08/11/05	Himachal Pradesh
5	Chilika Lake	01/10/81	Orissa
6	Deepor Beel	19/08/02	Assam
7	East Calcutta Wetlands	19/08/02	West Bengal
8	Harike Lake	23/03/90	Punjab
9	Hokera Wetland	08/11/05	Jammu and Kashmir
10	Kanjli	22/01/02	Punjab
11	Keoladeo National Park MR	01/10/81	Rajasthan
12	Kolleru Lake	19/08/02	Andhra Pradesh
13	Loktak Lake MR	23/03/90	Manipur
14	Point Calimere	19/08/02	Tamil Nadu
15	Pong Dam Lake	19/08/02	Himachal Pradesh
16	Renuka Wetland	08/11/05	Himachal Pradesh
17	Ropar	22/01/02	Punjab
18	Rudrasagar Lake	08/11/05	Tripura
19	Sambhar Lake	23/03/90	Rajasthan
20	Sasthamkotta Lake	19/08/02	Kerala
21	Surinsar-Mansar Lakes	08/11/05	Jammu and Kashmir
22	Tsomoriri	19/08/02	Jammu and Kashmir
23	Vembanad-Kol Wetland	19/08/02	Kerala
24	Wular Lake	23/03/90	Jammu and Kashmir
25	Upper Ganga River (Brijghat to Narora Stretch)	08/11/05	Uttar Pradesh

Wetlands Classification Scheme

Inland Wetlands
1. Natural	Lakes/Ponds Ox-bow lakes/ Cut-off meanders Waterlogged (Seasonal) Playas Swamp/marsh
2. Man-made	Reservoirs Tanks Waterlogged Abandoned quarries Ash pond/cooling pond
Coastal Wetlands
1. Natural	Estuary Lagoon Creek Backwater (Kayal) Bay Tidal flat/Split/Bar Coral reef Rocky coast Mangroove forest Salt marsh/marsh vegetation Other vegetation
2. Man-made	Salt pans Aquaculture

Source:http://geographyias.blogspot.in/