**2. Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, India: A case study**

Keoladeo National Park (27°10'N, 77°31'E), a World Heritage Site, is situated in eastern Rajasthan. The park is 2 kilometers (km) south-east of Bharatpur and 50 km west of Agra (cf. Figure 1). Figure 1 provides a location map for the park. The Park is spread over 29 square kilometres area. One third of the Park habitat is wetland system with varying types of trees, mounds, dykes and open water with or without submerged and emergent plants. The uplands have grasslands (savannas) of tall species of grass together with scattered trees and shrubs present in varying densities. The area consists of a flat patchwork of marshes in the Gangetic plain, artificially created in the 1850s and maintained ever since by a system of canals, sluices and dykes. Water is fed into the marshes twice a year from inundations of the Gambira and Banganga rivers, which are impounded on arable land by means of an artificial dam called Ajan Bund, located in the south of the park (cf. Fig. 2). It was developed in the late 19th century by creating small dams and bunds in an area of natural depression to collect rainwater and by feeding it with an irrigation canal.

 The 29 km (18 mi) reserve, locally known as Ghana, is a mosaic of dry grasslands, woodlands, woodland swamps, and wetlands. These diverse habitats serves as homes to 366 bird species, 379 floral species, 50 species of fish, 13 species of snakes, 5 species of lizards, 7 amphibian species, 7 turtle species, and a variety of other invertebrates. Keoladeo National Park is popularly known as "bird paradise". Over 370 bird species have been recorded in the park. The park's location in the Gangetic Plain makes it an unrivalled breeding site for

Fig. 1. Location map of the Keoladeo National park, a World Heritage site

herons, storks and cormorants, and an important wintering ground for large numbers of migrant ducks.

Fig. 2. Situational map of Keoladeo National Park
