Ghodaghodi Tal is a Ramsar site

Ramsar Convention

The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...

 in western Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

. Established in August 2003 it covers an area of 2563 ha (6,333.3 acre) in Kailali District

Kailali District

Kailali District of 616,697. Dhangadhi is a center of attraction of not only Kailali district but of the whole seti zone. The district also contains Tikapur Park, one of the biggest parks in Nepal, and Godha-Ghodi Tal lake.-Towns and villages:Baliya...

 at an altitude of 205 m (672.6 ft) on the
lower slopes of the Siwalik Hills

Siwalik Hills

The Sivalik hills is a mountain range of the outer Himalayas also known as Manak Parbat in ancient times. Shivalik literally means 'tresses of Shiva’. This range is about long enclosing an area that starts almost from the Indus and ends close to the Brahmaputra, with a gap of about between the...

. This Ramsar site consists of a system of around 13 large and shallow oxbow lake

Oxbow lake

An oxbow lake is a U-shaped body of water formed when a wide meander from the main stem of a river is cut off to create a lake. This landform is called an oxbow lake for the distinctive curved shape, named after part of a yoke for oxen. In Australia, an oxbow lake is called a billabong, derived...

s and ponds with associated marshes and meadows. It is surrounded by tropical deciduous

Deciduous

Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...

 forest and some streams along the periphery, which are separated by hillocks.

Fauna

The forest and wetlands serve as a wildlife corridor between the Terai

Terai

The Terai is a belt of marshy grasslands, savannas, and forests located south of the outer foothills of the Himalaya, the Siwalik Hills, and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and their tributaries. The Terai belongs to the Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands ecoregion...

 lowland and the Siwalik Hills. They support critically endangered and vulnerable species including Bengal tiger

Bengal Tiger

The Bengal tiger is a tiger subspecies native to the Indian subcontinent that in 2010 has been classified as endangered by IUCN...

, Smooth-coated otter

Smooth-coated Otter

The Smooth-coated Otter is a species of otter, the only extant representative of the genus Lutrogale. The species is found from southern Pakistan and parts of the India east to Southeast Asia, and there is a disjunct population in Iraq...

, Eurasian otter, Swamp deer, Lesser Adjutant stork

Lesser Adjutant

The Lesser Adjutant, Leptoptilos javanicus, is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It is a widespread species which is resident breeder in southern Asia from India east to southern China and Java....

, Marsh crocodile, Red-crowned roofed turtle and Three-striped roofed turtle

Kachuga dhongoka

The three-striped roofed turtle is a species of turtle. It was formerly in the genus Kachgua.-Distribution:This species is found in Nepal, Bangladesh, NE India...

.

External links

• The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands: The Annotated Ramsar List of Nepal