Keshopur wetland in Gurdaspur is inching closer be the third Ramsar site (wetlands of International importance) in Punjab. The three-day joint inspection visit of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) experts and officials of Punjab forest department to prepare a report on this matter concluded on Saturday. Report is soon going to be tabled before the office of chief wildlife warden and then forwarded to union environment ministry for a final seal on the declaration.

There are three Ramsar sites - Harike, Kanjli and Ropar - in the state which are significant habitats for waterfowl, fish and plethora of other endangered and vulnerable species of flora and fauna. The other two wetland in the state, Ranjit Sagar and Nangal, are national wetlands.

Geetanjali Kanwar, WWF researcher and member of the inspection team told TOI, “Keshopur wetland fulfills criterion to become a Ramsar site. There are around nine such criterion, out of which if any wetland fulfills even one criterion, it can become eligible to be declared to a Ramsar site.”

She said that team is studying almost all the nine criterion, but Keshopur certainly fulfils two-three criterion which include wetland being used by more than 20,000 migratory and native birds and is habitat of critically endangered/near endangered/vulnerable species. Keshopur has many such birds including Sarus Crane of vulnerable category.

The Keshopur wetland is also known as Keshopur-Miani Community Reserve or ‘Chhamb’ in local Punjabi dialect. It is one of the Asia’s biggest wetlands, located in the middle of the Ravi and Beas rivers. There are experts who believe that the area which earlier must have been a flood plain of the two rivers before barrages and dams were erected over it, is now fed by rain and groundwater . The 850-acre-marsh was declared as country’s first notified community reserve following a Punjab Government Notification on June 25 in year 2007 . This has now resulted into the joint management of the wetland by forest department and the locals of five villages namely Keshopur, Mattam, Miani, Maghar Mudhian, and Dala who shares ownership of the site. Keshopur now shows the way to involve locals to protect the natural conservation sites as other three established Ramsar sites Harike, Ropar and Kanjli are facing serious problems of pollution and encroachments. Contrary to that Keshopur has registered drastic increase in the arrival of migratory birds. In year 2011, it witnessed 4500 birds which soared in numbers, recorded over 25000 in 2016. It attracts migratory birds from Central Asia and Siberia in large number each year in the winters.

Kanwar expressed hope that Keshopur wetland had bright chance to make it to the Ramsar site. “Soon we will send our compiled report to the chief wildlife warden, Kuldeep Singh, who is nodal officer of Wetland affairs in the Punjab state. He will then forward this report to the union environment ministry for consideration for Ramsar site.”

