Loktak Lake

Loktak Lake lies in Manipur, in northeastern India. Its floating phumdi are heterogeneous mats of vegetation, soil and organic material at different stages of decomposition. They form a distinctive wetland habitat and are especially extensive around the lake's southern sector. The lake and the Keibul Lamjao Conservation Area are ecologically connected: Keibul Lamjao National Park consists largely of floating meadow habitat and is a refuge for the Manipur brow-antlered deer, locally known as the Sangai (Rucervus eldii eldii). The Forest Department of Manipur identifies the Sangai as an endangered deer found in the state at Keibul Lamjao.

Communities around and on the lake have longstanding social and economic ties to it. UNESCO's description of the proposed Keibul Lamjao Conservation Area notes the lake's roles in water supply, irrigation, fishing, food and other local uses. Some residents live in floating settlements built on phumdi; the International Union for Conservation of Nature describes fishing as the livelihood of residents of one such settlement. These uses coexist with the wetland's importance as habitat for plants, animals and migratory waterbirds.

Loktak was designated a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention in 1990. The International Union for Conservation of Nature identifies it as Ramsar site number 463. The southern part of the lake contains Keibul Lamjao National Park, which Manipur's Forest Department says was notified in 1977. UNESCO's Tentative List account describes the park and surrounding lake as a conservation landscape, while also noting that ecological integrity depends on the wider lake catchment. Maintaining the wetland therefore involves both wildlife protection and attention to the lake's hydrology, habitat and human use.