CDS (II) 2022 General Knowledge · Question 119 of 120

Correct — A, Wetland preservation. Its full title says so: the Convention on Wetlands, signed at Ramsar in Iran on 2 February 1971 and in force from 21 December 1975, and named after the town on the Caspian coast where it was adopted. It is the oldest of the modern multilateral environmental agreements and covers the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands — the guiding phrase in its own vocabulary is 'wise use', meaning that a listed site is not to be sealed off from people but maintained in its ecological character while being used sustainably. There are now 172 contracting parties and 2,531 listed sites covering more than 2.6 million square kilometres. India acceded in 1982, and its first two sites — Chilika Lake in Odisha and Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan — were listed on 1 October 1981; the Indian list has since grown to 101 sites covering 1,387,741 hectares as of August 2026.

• (b)Promote afforestation — There is no global convention of this kind devoted to afforestation. Forests are dealt with through the non-binding Forest Principles agreed at Rio in 1992, through the biodiversity and climate treaties, and through voluntary pledges such as the Bonn Challenge.
• (c)Action plan on climate change — That is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, opened for signature at Rio in 1992, with the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement under it.
• (d)Combat desertification — That is the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, adopted at Paris in June 1994 and arising out of a recommendation of Agenda 21.

A wetland under the Convention is defined broadly — marsh, fen, peatland or water, natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including marine water no deeper than six metres at low tide. Parties designate sites of international importance for the List, and undertake to maintain their ecological character. Where that character is changing or likely to change through human interference, the site can be placed on the Montreux Record, which functions as a watch list; India's entries there are Keoladeo and Loktak.

This item is decided by remembering that each of the great environmental agreements is tied to a place and a subject — Ramsar to wetlands, Rio to climate and biodiversity, Paris 1994 to desertification, Basel to hazardous waste, Stockholm to persistent organic pollutants, Montreal to ozone. Once that grid is in place the wrong options in a question like this identify themselves. India is a good country to hang the wetlands entry on, because its list keeps growing and is examined often: two sites in 1981, and 101 by August 2026, spread across most States and Union Territories. The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, are the domestic instrument, and World Wetlands Day on 2 February marks the anniversary of the signing.

• The Convention on Wetlands was signed at Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971 and entered into force on 21 December 1975.
• It has 172 contracting parties and 2,531 listed sites covering over 2.6 million square kilometres.
• India acceded in 1982; Chilika Lake and Keoladeo National Park, both listed on 1 October 1981, were its first sites.
• India had 101 Ramsar sites covering 1,387,741 hectares as of August 2026.
• The Montreux Record lists sites whose ecological character is changing; India's entries are Keoladeo and Loktak.

• Assuming a Ramsar listing means no human use is allowed; the Convention's standard is wise use, not exclusion.
• Confusing the Montreux Record, a watch list for sites under threat, with the Ramsar List itself.
• Mixing up India's accession in 1982 with the 1 October 1981 listing date of its first two sites.

As a convention-to-subject match, as a count of India's sites in a given year, or as a statements question on wise use and the Montreux Record.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  A Ramsar site placed on the Montreux Record is one

  • (a)That has been removed from the Ramsar List
  • (b)Whose ecological character has changed, is changing or is likely to change
  • (c)That has been declared a World Heritage Site
  • (d)Where all human activity has been prohibited

  Answer(b) Whose ecological character has changed, is changing or is likely to change — a watch list maintained alongside the Ramsar List; India's entries are Keoladeo and Loktak.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  World Wetlands Day is observed every year on

  • (a)2 February
  • (b)22 March
  • (c)5 June
  • (d)16 September

  Answer(a) 2 February — the anniversary of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands at Ramsar in 1971; 22 March is World Water Day and 5 June World Environment Day.