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The total estimated area of wetland over the Asian continent was recorded in a range of 211–224 million hectares (Watkins and Parish 1999). In India, it is estimated as 15 260 572 ha (NWIA 2011; Panigrahy et al. 2012), which is about 4.63% of the total geographical area of the country (NWIA 2011). Most of the natural wetlands in India are found at high altitudes in the Himalayas, followed by wetlands of major rivers in their flood plains and coastal wetlands (Prasad et al. 2002). These are distributed from the cold arid trans‐Himalayan zone to wet Terai regions of the Himalayan foothills, including the floodplains of the rivers Ganga and Brahmaputra. In the Deccan peninsula, the river floodplains of Cauvery, Krishna, Godavari, and Tapti contribute to different wetlands. The vast Indian coastline of 7500 km, contributes different types of wetlands in the state of West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujrat, Lakshadweep, and Andaman and Nicobar states (Figure 2.1). In addition, a large number of artificial wetlands also contribute to the total estimated wetland area (Panigrahy et al. 2012).

A total of 115 wetlands were identified in different states of India, as “wetlands of national importance” for conservation under the National Wetland Conservation Program in 2009. Wetlands in India have been classified under different categories as shown in Table 2.1 (NWIA 2011).

Currently, there are 37 wetlands of international importance in India that are designated as Ramsar sites, covering 1 067 939 ha.