By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, DEC 24, 2020: LADAKH's high-altitude wetland complex in the Changthang region has become the 42 nd place to be added to the list of recognised sites of international importance under the Ramsar Convention.

The Tso Kar basin consists of two interconnected lakes, the freshwater Startsapuk Tso and the hypersaline Tso Kar itself. It is called Tso Kar, meaning "white lake," because of the white salt efflorescence found on the margins due to the evaporation of the highly saline water.

Expressing happiness, the Environment Ministry tweeted: "India ends the year 2020 by declaring its 42nd Ramsar site. Tso Kar wetland complex, 4500 meters above sea level in the Changthang region of Ladakh, was added to the list of sites of international importance on 23 December 2020."

The Tso Kar Basin is an A1 Category Important Bird Area (IBA) as per Bird Life International and a key staging site in the Central Asian Flyway. The site is also an important breeding ground of the Black-necked Crane (Grus nigricollis), Great Crested Grebe (Podicepscristatus), Bar-headed Geese (Anserindicus), Ruddy Shelduck (Tadornaferruginea), Brown-headed Gull (Larusbrunnicephalus), Lesser Sand-Plover (Charadriusmongolus) and many other species.

The Ramsar Convention, signed in 1971 by over 170 countries, is one of the older inter-governmental accords for preserving the ecological character of wetlands. It aims to develop and maintain an international network of wetlands which are important for the conservation of global biological diversity and for sustaining human life.

The other Ramsar sites in India include Lonar lake in Maharashtra, Asan Conservation Reserve in Uttarakhand, Chilika Lake in Odisha, wular Lake in Jammu and Kashmir and Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan.