Sakhya Sagar, is a human-made wetland on the outskirts of the Shivpuri town and situated within the Madhav National Park. The wetland was created due to damming of the Manier River in 1918 by the Maharaja of Scindias clan. Spread across 248 ha with a catchment of 37,522 ha, the wetland helps in maintaining the ecological balance of the Madhav National Park. This wetland not only adds to the natural beauty of the area, but also provides a permanent source of water to the wildlife, and a fine wetland habitat for the aquatic fauna including thousands of migratory waterfowls. Marsh Crocodiles are in abundance in the lake. Due to this, the wetland looks like a ‘Crocodile Safari’ and attracts special attention from tourists. The wetland catchment comprises the Madhav National Park, which is one of the oldest national parks of Madhya Pradesh and has a fascinating mix of natural splendors of history and architectural wonders. The park is unique in terms of having Sakhya Sagar and forest ecosystems, which are important biodiversity support systems. The wetland catchment covers mostly forests and rural areas in the northern and western sides of the wetland. The forests here are home to antelopes like nilgai, chinkara, chowsinga, and deer including chital, sambar, and barking Deer. Mammals such as leopard, wolf, jackal, wild dog, and porcupine are also found in the area.The wetland comes under the jurisdiction of the Forest Department of the State Government of Madhya Pradesh.

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.