Much to the delight of the environmentalists, particularly bird-lovers, the Asan Conservation Reserve in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun, which is home to various winged guests, has been recognised as wetland sites of international importance under the treaty of Ramsar Convention.

In January this year, 10 wetlands in India were recognised by the Ramsar Convention as sites of international importance.

With this new addition, the country's wetlands tally now stands at 38, the highest in South Asia. The Asan Conservation Reserve, home to rare species, is a fish spawning ground and has a lot of biological diversity and  is the first wetland from Uttarakhand to be recognised by Ramsar.

The convention, signed in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, is one of the oldest inter-governmental accord for preserving the ecological character of wetlands. Also known as the Convention on Wetlands, it aims to develop a global network of wetlands for conservation of biological diversity and for sustaining human life.

In February this year, the government had proposed 10 more sites to be declared as sites of international importance, including the Asan Conservation Reserve.

Wetlands declared as Ramsar sites are protected under strict guidelines. If the nine other proposed wetlands are approved by the Ramsar Secretariat, India will have 47 sites protected internationally.

In January this year, 10 wetlands in India that bagged Ramsar tag are Nandur Madhameshwar in Maharashtra, Keshopur-Miani, Beas Conservation Reserve and Nangal in Punjab, and Nawabganj, Parvati Agra, Saman, Samaspur, Sandi and SarsaiNawar in Uttar Pradesh.

The other Ramsar sites are in Rajasthan, Kerala, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh.