Chashma Barrage (Ramsar Site)

Chashma Barrage wetland site is located Indus Monsoon Forest, some 25 km southwest of Mianwali, Punjab, Pakistan.

The site comprises a large barrage, a water storage reservoir and a series of embankments (serving as flood bounds) which divide the reservoir into five shallow lakes at low water levels.

The aquatic vegetation consists of "Hydrilla verticillata", "Nelumbium speciosum", "Nymphaea lotus", "Typha angustata", "Typha elephantina", "Phragmites australis", "Potamogeton crispus"-"Myriophyllum" sp.-"Nymphoides cristatum", "Potamogeton pectinatus", "Saccharum spontaneum", "Vallisneria spiralis" and "Zannichellia palustris".

The natural vegetation of the region is a mixture of subtropical semi-evergreen scrub and tropical thorn forest. Species include "Olea ferruginea", "Acacia modesta", "A. nilotica", "Adhatoda vasica", "Dodonaea viscosa", "Gymnosporia" sp., "Prosopis cineraria", "Reptonia buxifolia", "Salvadora oleoides", "Tamarix aphylla", "T. dioica", "Ziziphus mauritania", "Z. nummularia", "Chrysopogon aucheri", "Lasiurus hirsutus", "Heteropogon contortus" and "Panicum antidotale". "Prosopis glandulosa" has been introduced in the area. Most of the natural thorn forest on the plains to the east of the Indus has been cleared for agricultural land and for irrigated plantations of "Dalbergia sissoo" and other species.

The rich fish fauna includes "Gudusia chapra", "Notopterus chitala", "Catla catla", "Cirrhinus mrigala", "C. reba", "Labeo rohita", "L. microphthalmus", "Puntius ticto", "P. stigma", "Barilius vagra", "Wallago attu", "Rita rita", "Bagarius bagarius", "Mystus aor", "M. seenghala", "Heteropneustes fossilis", "utropiichthys vacha", "Nandus" sp., "Mastacembelus armatus", "M. pancalus", "Ambassis nama", "A. ranga" and "Channa punctatus".

Other aquatic fauna includes "Hirudinaria sp.", "Palaemon" spp., "Rana tigrina", "Kachuga smithi", "Trionyx gangeticus" and "Lissemys punctata". Mammals occurring in the area include "Sus scrofa cristatus", "Axis porcinus", "Canis aureus", "Felis libyca" and "Lutra perspicillata".

=External links=
* [http://pakistan-wetlands.dyndns.org A site with GoogleMaps for Ramsar sites in Pakistan]