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Glaw Lake, also spelt Glow Lake, in Arunachal Pradesh has been designated India's 101st Ramsar Site.
Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav announced the designation on 3 August 2026; it is the state's first Ramsar Site.
The lake lies in Lohit district near Wakro, inside the Kamlang Tiger Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary, at about 1,168 metres elevation and covering roughly 8 sq km.
It is the headwater source of the perennial Kamlang River and supports over 150 tree species and 49 orchid species.
The basin is one of the rare zones where all four big cats of India occur — tiger, leopard, clouded leopard and snow leopard.
The Ramsar Convention is an intergovernmental treaty adopted on 2 February 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar and in force from 1975. It is the oldest of the modern global environmental agreements and the only one devoted to a single ecosystem type. A country that accedes to the Convention undertakes to designate at least one wetland of international importance and to promote the 'wise use' of all wetlands in its territory. Designation does not transfer control of the site to any international body and does not by itself create new legal protection under Indian law — the site continues to be governed by domestic law, here the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, since Glaw Lake sits inside a tiger reserve. What designation does is commit the government to maintaining the site's ecological character and to reporting on it, and it brings international visibility and technical support.
Simple Analogy: It is closer to a heritage listing than to a transfer of ownership: the property stays yours, but you have publicly promised to look after it and to explain yourself if it deteriorates.
Glaw Lake lies in Lohit district in eastern Arunachal Pradesh, near Wakro, deep inside the Kamlang Tiger Reserve. The Lang River bounds the area to the north and Namdapha National Park lies to the south. The lake sits within the Eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspot and drains into the Kamlang River, a tributary system of the Brahmaputra basin. The surrounding territories are inhabited by the Miju Mishmi, Digaro Mishmi and Idu Mishmi communities.
GS Paper III > Environment, conservation and biodiversity; GS Paper I > Physical geography of India
General Awareness > Environment and static GK
General Awareness > Environment, national parks and sanctuaries
General Knowledge > Geography and environment
Consider the following pairs: Wetland/Lake : Location 1. Hokera Wetland : Punjab 2. Renuka Wetland : Himachal Pradesh 3. Rudrasagar Lake : Tripura 4. Sasthamkotta Lake : Tamil Nadu How many pairs given above are correctly matched?
Answer: Only two pairs
"If rainforests and tropical forests are the lungs of the Earth, then surely wetlands function as its kidneys." Which one of the following functions of wetlands best reflects the above statement?
Answer: Aquatic plants absorb heavy metals and excess nutrients.
A wetland designated as being of international importance under the Ramsar Convention of 1971.
The Convention's core principle — maintenance of a wetland's ecological character through sustainable development.
A register of Ramsar Sites where ecological character has changed or is likely to change; Keoladeo National Park and Loktak Lake from India are on it.
One of the global biodiversity hotspots covering the Eastern Himalayas, including Arunachal Pradesh.
The source area of a river system, whose condition determines downstream flow and water quality.