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UPSC 2018 GS-III · 10 marks · 150 words

What is wetland? Explain the Ramsar concept of ‘wise use’ in the context of wetland conservation. Cite two examples of Ramsar sites from India.

What “Explain” demands

set out how or why something works, with the mechanism made explicit.

The characteristic failure: stating that it works without showing how.

What a top answer must contain

These are the checkable specifics from the marking standard for this question — the actual case, committee, datum or thinker, not an instruction to “give examples”.

  • Definition: areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, including marine water up to six metres at low tide (Ramsar Convention 1971)
  • Wise use: maintenance of ecological character through ecosystem approaches within sustainable development — use, not preservation-by-exclusion
  • Two Indian sites named with their state: Chilika (Odisha), Keoladeo (Rajasthan), Loktak (Manipur), Sundarbans (West Bengal) — India now has 85-plus sites
  • Domestic law: Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017, National Wetland Inventory, Montreux Record (Keoladeo, Loktak)
  • Threats: encroachment, sewage inflow, invasive species (water hyacinth, phumdis), catchment change

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