NEW DELHI, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- India has added five more wetlands to the List of Wetlands of International Importance, or the Ramsar List, taking the number of such sites in the country to 80, officials said Wednesday.

       The announcement of adding five more sites, three in Karnataka and two in Tamil Nadu, to the list was made by Federal Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav.

       India is one of contracting parties to the wetland convention, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, and ratified the convention in 1982.

       The convention on wetlands is an intergovernmental environmental treaty that provides for national action and international cooperation regarding the conservation of wetlands. It identifies wetlands of international importance, especially those providing waterfowl habitat.