Nanda Lake is located in the village Cacora of Quepem Taluka, South Goa District, State of Goa. It is notified as a wetland under Wetland (Conservation & Management) Rules 2017. It is considered to be critically significant for its ecosystem services and biodiversity values for the local communities and society at large. The majority of the area is intermittent freshwater marshes that lie adjacent to one of the major rivulets of the Zuari River. It is filled with water by intervention within the river channel that is adjacent to the marsh, called a sluice gate, which when closed fills the entire marsh with water. This enables the locals to store the water during the off-monsoon season. The stored water is also utilized to cultivate paddy downstream of the lake and supports fishing and recreation. While during the monsoons the sluice gate is opened and the water is released which changes the character of the lake into a marshland. During this time the marshland is also utilized to grow paddy. This lake is also responsible for taking up large amounts of monsoon rains that protect the surrounding catchment and downstream low-lying areas from floods. The coconut plantations on traditional bunds create a scenic lining to the entire lake-supported landscape. Notable faunal species include Threskiornis melanocephalus (Black-headed ibis), Alcedoatthis (Common kingfisher), Hirundo smithii (Wire-tailed swallow), Metopidius indicus (Bronze-winged jacana), Haliastur indus (Brahminykite), Ardea intermedia (Intermediate egret), Vanellus indicus (Red-wattled lapwing), Microcarbo niger (Little cormorant) and Dendrocygna javanica (Lesser whistling duck).

A wetland should be considered internationally important if it contains a representative, rare, or unique example of a natural or near-natural wetland type found within the appropriate biogeographic region.

A wetland should be considered internationally important if it supports vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered species or threatened ecological communities.

A wetland should be considered internationally important if it supports populations of plant and/or animal species important for maintaining the biological diversity of a particular biogeographic region.

A wetland should be considered internationally important if it supports plant and/or animal species at a critical stage in their life cycles, or provides refuge during adverse conditions.

A wetland should be considered internationally important if it regularly supports 20,000 or more waterbirds.

A wetland should be considered internationally important if it regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of waterbird.

A wetland should be considered internationally important if it supports a significant proportion of indigenous fish subspecies, species or families, life-history stages, species interactions and/or populations that are representative of wetland benefits and/or values and thereby contributes to global biological diversity.

A wetland should be considered internationally important if it is an important source of food for fishes, spawning ground, nursery and/or migration path on which fish stocks, either within the wetland or elsewhere, depend.

A wetland should be considered internationally important if it regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of wetland-dependent nonavian animal species.