A Stopover on a Global Bird Route: How Chandigarh’s Sukhna Wetland Sustains Threatened Wildlife

Sukhna Wetland was officially added to the Ramsar List as India’s 103rd Ramsar Site. It received Site Number 2602. This gives international recognition to a wetland located on Chandigarh’s edge, near the Shivalik Hills and the Himalayas. The decision highlights Sukhna’s ecological importance beyond its value as a local lake.

Sukhna is a peri-urban reservoir, meaning it lies within or near a city while still supporting important ecological functions. Its open water, banks, vegetation and adjoining woodland create habitats for wildlife. The lake also lies along the Central Asian Flyway, where migratory birds need places to feed, rest and recover.

The designation brings Sukhna into an international framework for wetland conservation and wise use. It also raises attention to the need to protect the lake’s habitats, which support species such as the Vulnerable Common Pochard and the Endangered Pallas’s Fish Eagle and Black Pond Turtle.

A Ramsar Site is a wetland recognised as internationally important under the Ramsar Convention. The agreement was adopted in 1971 in Ramsar, an Iranian city, and provides a framework for conserving and wisely using wetlands. The designation applies to wetlands whose ecological importance reaches beyond their immediate surroundings.

International recognition matters because wetlands support interconnected habitats and wildlife. At Sukhna, open water, bank vegetation and adjoining woodland serve different species and life-cycle needs. Migratory waterbirds use the lake for feeding, breeding, roosting and wintering while travelling along the Central Asian Flyway.

Ramsar status does not merely create a prestigious label. It draws attention to the need to protect the wetland’s ecological character and biodiversity. Sukhna’s listing also places an important urban wetland within an international conservation framework, connecting Chandigarh’s local landscape with routes and habitats extending across national boundaries.

India’s Ramsar network has grown to 103 sites after Sukhna Lake and Sauj Jheel joined the list. This figure shows the expanding national recognition of wetlands that conserve biodiversity, support water and climate security, and sustain local livelihoods, as stated by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Sukhna lies along the Central Asian Flyway, a major route used by birds moving between breeding and non-breeding grounds. These birds can travel thousands of kilometres between continents. During such journeys, wetlands provide essential places to feed, rest and recover before migration continues.

Sukhna is therefore part of a much larger ecological network rather than an isolated lake. Its water and surrounding habitats support migratory waterbirds as feeding, breeding, roosting and wintering grounds. Maintaining sites along the flyway helps preserve the chain of suitable habitats these birds depend on during different stages of their annual movements.

Sukhna is not just a lake. Its interconnected ecosystem includes open water, vegetation along the banks, surrounding vegetation and adjoining woodland. Together, these four habitat elements form a broader wetland landscape. Their variety allows different animals to use different parts of the site rather than depending on one uniform environment.

Migratory waterbirds use the lake as a feeding, breeding, roosting and wintering ground. Some species depend mainly on open water, while others use plants along the banks or nearby woodland. The Common Pochard, a Vulnerable diving duck, depends on suitable freshwater habitat. Pallas’s Fish Eagle is associated with wetland and riverine ecosystems.

The Black Pond Turtle also depends on suitable aquatic environments for survival. These examples show why the habitats must remain connected and healthy. Protecting only the water surface would overlook the vegetation and woodland that help sustain wildlife and give Sukhna its ecological character.

Wetlands such as Sukhna act as essential stops along migration routes. Birds travelling between breeding and non-breeding grounds cannot treat these sites as optional scenery. They need suitable habitats where they can feed, rest and recover before continuing long journeys.

If a wetland is unavailable, birds lose the water, vegetation and shelter associated with that stop. They may have fewer opportunities to obtain food or regain energy during migration. The source specifically identifies feeding, resting and recovery as essential needs, although it does not describe one exact outcome for every bird when a site disappears.

Sukhna’s role shows why a flyway depends on a chain of wetlands rather than one destination. Its open water, banks and adjoining woodland support birds at different stages. Protecting these habitats helps preserve the connected route between breeding areas, feeding sites and wintering habitats across continents.

Three notable threatened species associated with Sukhna are the Common Pochard, Pallas’s Fish Eagle and Black Pond Turtle. The Common Pochard is classified as Vulnerable. The fish eagle and pond turtle are classified as Endangered. These classifications show that the wetland supports species facing important conservation concerns.

In standard conservation terminology, Vulnerable means a species faces a high risk of becoming endangered if threatening conditions continue. Endangered means it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild. These definitions are established conservation usage; the article itself gives the species’ categories but does not explain the full classification system.

The species also use different parts of the wetland. The pochard depends on freshwater habitat, the fish eagle is associated with wetland and riverine ecosystems, and the turtle needs suitable aquatic environments. Protecting Sukhna’s connected habitats can therefore support several conservation needs at once.

Wetlands are essential because they provide habitats for wildlife and connect different stages of animals’ lives. At Sukhna, the open water, banks, vegetation and woodland support birds, fish-eagle habitats and freshwater turtles. Migratory waterbirds also use the site for feeding, breeding, roosting and wintering.

Sukhna shows how a waterbody near a city can retain major ecological functions. It is a peri-urban reservoir, located within or near Chandigarh while supporting wildlife. Its position along the Central Asian Flyway gives it importance beyond the city, because birds use it during journeys between breeding and non-breeding grounds.

The article states that wetlands conserve biodiversity, strengthen water and climate security, and sustain local livelihoods. Ramsar recognition draws attention to these values and the need for protection. Sukhna’s future importance depends on maintaining its interconnected habitats so the wetland remains useful to wildlife and people.