Gogabeel Lake declared Ramsar site, 6th for Bihar

Less than a week before the Bihar poll, the Union Environment Ministry on Friday announced that it has added one more Ramsar site from Bihar -- 86.63-hectare Gogabeel Lake in Katihar district.With the addition of Gogabeel Lake, Bihar now has six Ramsar sites. “On a day we are celebrating National Unity Day, I am thrilled to share that India continues its stride towards conserving wetlands. We have added one more Ramsar site from Bihar -- Gogabeel Lake, a conservation and community reserve, conserved and managed by the local community. Now, Bihar has six Ramsar sites and stands at third position in the country,” Yadav said on X.

The lake is used wisely by the local community for livelihood. Meanwhile, India has a total of 94 Ramasar sites. “With PM Narendra Modi leading the way for environmental conservation, India continues to be the first in Asia and third in the world in terms of total number of Ramsar sites in a country, demonstrating the importance laid on these wetlands of international importance for national and global biodiversity, climate resilience, ecotourism and sustainable livelihood for local communities,” the minister added.

Gogabeel lake was declared as the state’s first ‘Community Reserve’. The water body was notified as a 57-hectare Community Reserve and a 30-hectare ‘Conservation Reserve’ on August 2, 2019, by the Bihar Government.

India is a signatory to the Ramsar convention. A Ramsar site is declared by a signatory country by submitting a wetland to be added to the list of wetlands of international importance. The wetland must meet at least one of nine criteria, which includes criteria for unique or representative wetland types, conservation of biological diversity, and specific criteria for waterbirds, fish, or other species. The designation is a national and international commitment to maintain the site's ecological character.