Population of blind Indus dolphins rises to 821

Ramsar (Iran) Convention was held under the auspices of wetland international and was signed by Pakistan in 1971 and ratified in January 1976. The sources in Sindh Wildlife department said 10 Ramsar sites were in Sindh out of which three sites were declared in 2002, three in 2001 and three in 1976.

The first one was Drigh Lake declared Ramsar in 1976 which covered an area of 164 hectors, Haleji Lake in 1976 which covered an area of 1,704 hectares, Kinjhar (Karli) Lake in 1976 which covered an area of 13,468 hectares, Indus Dolphin Reserve in 2001 which covered an area of 125,000 hectares. Jubho Lagoon in 2001 which covered an area of 706 hectares, Nurri Lagoon in 2001 which covered an area of 2,540 hectares, Hub Dam in 2001 which covered an area of 27,000 hectares, Deh Akro-11 Desert wetland complex in 2002 which covered an area of 20,500 hectares, Indus Delta in 2002 which covered an area of 472,800 hectares and Runn of Kutch in 2002 which covered an area of 566,375 hectares.

The other 9 Ramsar sites situated in Punjab, NWFP and Balochistan.

According to the sources in NWFP, Tanda Dam was declared Ramsar in 1976 which covered an area of 405hectares and Thanedar Wala in 1976 which covered an area of 4,047 hectares.