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. Okhla Park and Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary in Gurgaon are among the 135 possible Ramsar sites that were identified by the Mumbai Natural History Society in 2008.

India, which became a signatory in 1981, already has 25 Ramsar sites. The Ramsar convention was adopted in the Iranian city of the same name on February 2, 1971 and aimed at conservation, protection and correct use of wetlands through international cooperation. February 2 is observed as the International Wetlands Day. Dr Asad Rehmani, director BNHS, said: “We carried out a survey and identified 135 more sites in 2008. A list was submitted tor the government. However, it is the state government that is required to make a recommendation to the Wetland Committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forests before the site can be declared a Ramsar site.”

Both Okhla and Sultanpur meet the convention’s mandate of over 20,000 birds. There are eight criteria of which at least one needs to be met. Normally, if a Ramsar site fails to meet standards after a while, efforts are made to improve its conditions. Only in very rare cases has the site been removed from the list.

“Water pollution, dumping of waste and debris, reclamation and poaching are some of the major threats to wetlands and birds in India. If a wetland is designated a Ramsar site, no activity that is unnatural to wetlands is permitted. These include commercial exploitation, grazing and pollution,” said Rehmani.

The Okhla Park’s upkeep has been severely affected due to an ongoing territory battle between UP and Delhi. UP has notified the entire sanctuary while Delhi has been asking for denotification of its area so that it can prepare separate development plans for it. Sources said that while UP’s side of the bird sanctuary was better maintained, Delhi’s side towards Jamia was in a mess. This year, bird experts also reported a decline in the number of birds that visited the park due to poor maintenance. Among the 135 sites identified by BNHS, seven are in the Trans-Himalayan region, five in the Himalayas, 31 in the Gangetic Plains, 14 in the semi-arid region, five are from the desert region, 38 from Deccan, one from the Western Ghats, 20 from the northeast, 10 from coastal regions and three from the Islands region.