Forests Minister M. Mathiventhan on Thursday unveiled a plaque at Pallikaranai Eco Park on the occasion of World Wetland Day. The plaque contains details of the Pallikaranai marshlands, which was declared a Ramsar site in 2022.
Mr. Mathiventhan hoisted a national flag at the park and took a pledge to protect wetlands. Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Environment and Climate Change; Subrat Mohapatra, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests; Deepak Srivatsava, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, and participants took the oath to avoid encroachments, dumping garbage, and overusing wetland resources.
Renowned classical dancer Leela Samson’s team performed a Bharatanatyam sequence on the importance of preserving nature. The Pallikaranai marshland supports over 115 bird species, 10 mammals, 21 reptiles, 10 amphibians, 46 fish, nine molluscs, five crustaceans and seven butterfly species. Mr. Mathiventhan said a Ramsar site is of great importance and efforts must be made to protect them. Tamil Nadu has 14 Ramsar sites, four of which were added in August 2022.
The Ramsar Convention encourages the designation of sites containing representative, rare or unique wetlands or wetlands that are important for conserving biological diversity. Once designated, these sites are added to the Convention’s List of Wetlands of International Importance and become known as Ramsar sites.
EOM
