The World Wetland Day is celebrated on which one of the following dates every year?

Q: What is the answer to CAPF 2022 Paper I Q83?

D. Correct — D, 2nd February. The date is the anniversary of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar on 2 February 1971. The day has been marked since 1997, and its annual theme is set by the Convention secretariat.

(a)10th June
(b)13th February
(c)9th March
(d)2nd February

Answer

Why

Correct — D, 2nd February. The date is the anniversary of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar on 2 February 1971. The day has been marked since 1997, and its annual theme is set by the Convention secretariat.

Why the others are wrong

(a)10th June — 10th June has no wetlands observance attached to it. World Environment Day is 5 June and World Oceans Day 8 June, which is probably what pulls a candidate to this part of the calendar.
(b)13th February — 13th February is World Radio Day. Nothing in the wetlands calendar falls on it.
(c)9th March — 9th March carries no wetlands day. World Water Day, the nearest relative in the environmental calendar, is 22 March.

Concept

The Ramsar Convention is the intergovernmental treaty for the conservation and wise use of wetlands. A country that joins designates sites of international importance for the Ramsar List and undertakes to maintain their ecological character. India became a party in 1982 and designated Chilika Lake in Odisha and Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan as its first two sites in October 1981.

Environment days are easiest to hold if you attach each to the event it commemorates rather than memorising a calendar. Wetlands Day is the treaty's signing date; Water Day, Environment Day and Ozone Day each have their own anchor. As of the 2022 exam India's Ramsar list was expanding fast; the environment ministry's list dated 26 September 2025 carries 93 sites.

Key facts

The Ramsar Convention was adopted on 2 February 1971 at Ramsar, Iran.
World Wetlands Day has been observed since 1997.
Chilika Lake and Keoladeo National Park, both designated in October 1981, were India's first Ramsar sites.
The Montreux Record lists Ramsar sites whose ecological character has changed or is likely to change through human interference.

The broad open water of Chilika lagoon in Odisha under an overcast sky, with a low tree-lined shore in the distance and marsh grass in the foreground — Chilika in Odisha, a brackish lagoon that was among the first two Indian wetlands placed on the Ramsar List in 1981.Image: Pinakpani · Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Study next

The Ramsar Convention, wise use, and the Montreux RecordIndia's Ramsar sites and how the list has grownWetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules and the Environment (Protection) ActEnvironment observance days — Water Day, Environment Day, Ozone Day, Biodiversity DayWetland functions — flood buffering, groundwater recharge, nutrient filtering

Common traps

Sliding from World Wetlands Day to World Water Day, 22 March.
Assuming Ramsar status means the wetland is protected under Indian law by that fact alone; the legal protection comes from domestic rules.

Either as this date alone, or inside a day-to-date matching block with Tiger Day, Water Day and Earth Day.

Related PYQs

UPSC_2014_GS1_Q22014Open & attempt →

If a wetland of international importance is brought under the 'Montreux Record', what does it imply?

(a) Changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring or are likely to occur in the wetland as a result of human interference
(b) The country in which the wetland is located should enact a law to prohibit any human activity within five kilometres from the edge of the wetland
(c) The survival of the wetland depends on the cultural practices and traditions of certain communities living in its vicinity and therefore the cultural diversity therein should not be destroyed
(d) It is given the status of 'World Heritage Site'

Answer(a) Changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring or are likely to occur in the wetland as a result of human interference

The other end of the same treaty. Once a wetland is on the Ramsar List, the Montreux Record is the mechanism that flags deterioration in its ecological character.

CDS_GK_2023_I_Q592023Open & attempt →

Match List-I with List-II and select the correct answer using the code given below the Lists : List-I (Day) A. World Wetlands Day B. International Tiger Day C. World Water Day D. International Mother Earth Day List-II (Date) 1. 29 July 2. 22 April 3. 2 February 4. 22 March Code:

(a) 3, 4, 1, 2
(b) 3, 1, 4, 2
(c) 2, 1, 4, 3
(d) 2, 4, 1, 3

Answer(b) 3, 1, 4, 2

The same date inside a matching block. World Wetlands Day pairs with 2 February there, alongside Tiger Day, Water Day and Mother Earth Day — the four that are asked together most often.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
The Ramsar Convention takes its name from
- (a)the scientist who first classified wetlands
- (b)a city in Iran where it was adopted
- (c)an acronym of the founding organisations
- (d)a Ramsar wetland in Switzerland
Answer(b) a city in Iran where it was adopted — Ramsar, on the Caspian coast, on 2 February 1971.
practice — not a real PYQ
Which two wetlands were India's first Ramsar sites?
- (a)Loktak and Wular
- (b)Chilika and Keoladeo
- (c)Harike and Sambhar
- (d)Kolleru and Pulicat
Answer(b) Chilika and Keoladeo — both designated in October 1981, before India formally became a party in 1982.