The only site with remaining reedbeds of Kashmir: Hokera Wetland, ten kilometres from the capital where the Chief Secretary takes office

Background

The administrative capital in the news this week has a Ramsar wetland on its edge. Hokera Wetland is Ramsar site number 1570, designated on 8 November 2005, and covers 1,375 hectares in Jammu and Kashmir. The Ramsar record describes it as a natural perennial wetland connected to the Jhelum basin in the north-west Himalayan region, about ten kilometres from Srinagar, and calls it the only site with remaining reedbeds of Kashmir. It supports 68 species of waterfowl, among them the Large Egret, the Great Crested Grebe, the Little Cormorant, the Common Shelduck, the Tufted Duck and the endangered White-eyed Pochard. Its marsh vegetation includes Typha, Phragmites, Eleocharis, Trapa and Nymphoides. The site carries a national designation as a Protected Area.