Mumbai, Feb 17 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday approved a proposal to grant ‘Ramsar’ site status to the Thane creek area, which is rich in biodiversity, and it will now be sent to the Centre for final nod.
The proposal, prepared by the State Mangrove Cell, seeking recognition for the area in the adjoining city as environmentally important under the Ramsar Convention (named after an Iranian city), will be sent to the central government for further approval and sanction.
Once Ramsar site status is granted, the Thane creek area will attract tourists from the across the country and abroad for bird watching and this, in turn, will promote environment and tourism besides creating job opportunities for the local people, the Chief Minister said in a statement.
In addition, the move will convey the importance of swampy areas to people and accelerate their protection and conservation besides putting them on the global tourist map, he said in the statement.
A Ramsar site is a wetland of international importance. The aim of the Ramsar designation is “to develop and maintain an international network of wetlands which are important for the conservation of global biological diversity and for sustaining human life through the maintenance of their ecosystem components, processes and benefits”.
Ramsar site status to the Thane creek area was proposed at the fourth meeting of the state mangrove authority held on December 9, 2021, under the chairmanship of Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray.
The proposal was cleared at the meeting and sent to the Chief Minister for his approval.
The Thane Creek Flamingo Reserve Forest is situated in a 16.90 sq km area.
In the Thane creek area along with flamingos who migrate from abroad, other bird species are also found.
Approximately 65 sq km area of Thane Creek is proposed to be identified as Ramsar area of which 17 sq km is reserved forest. The remaining 48 sq km was notified as an environmentally sensitive area in October 2021.
Once Thane Creek is declared as a ‘Ramsar’ area, it would be easy to protect and conserve flamingos and other bird species in the area, the statement said.
The move will help preserve the biodiversity of the area with more ease, it said.
The Nandur Madhmeshwar reserved forest in Nasik district was granted the Ramsar site status at the January 2020 International Mangrove Ramsar conference. This was the first Ramsar place in Maharashtra.
Lonar, the site of a lake formed by the impact of a meteorite, in Buldana district is another ‘Ramsar’ place.
If the latest proposal is approved by the Centre, the Thane creek will be the third Ramsar area in the state.
The first conference on conservation and preservation of global mangrove areas was held at Ramsar city in Iran in 1971.
According to an action plan prepared at the conference, each participating country was urged to identify globally important mangrove areas and declare them as “Ramsar” places. Lakes, rivers, ponds, swamps, creeks, seashores and paddy fields are included in mangrove areas.
At present, there are 244 global mangroves that have been accorded the Ramsar site status and 49 of them are in India. PTI MR RSY RSY
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