Yashwant Sagar is one of the two Important Bird Areas (IBA) in the Indore region as well as one of the most important birding sites in Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh. Yashwant Sagar is a man-made reservoir on Gambhir river, located around 26 kilometers west of Indore near Hatod village on Indore-Depalpur Road in the Indore district of Madhya Pradesh. It is geographically at 22° 48′ 33.6″ N 75° 41′ 39.8″ E. The submergence area of this lake is 822 ha. and its catchment area is 2,650 ha. approximate. It is also one of the 19 important bird areas of Madhya Pradesh. It’s a freshwater reservoir with open fields on almost all its sides. Yashwant Sagar reservoir was built by erstwhile ruler of Holker State of Indore, Yashwant Rao Holkar in 1930 to fulfill multipurpose objectives such as irrigation and supply of drinking water. Presently it is mainly used for water supply to the city of Indore and is also being used for fish culture on a commercial scale. Yashwant Sagar reservoir comes under the jurisdiction of Indore City Municipal Corporation. Indore which has bagged the title of one of the cleanest cities in India is also often known as center of economic growth of Madhya Pradesh. The catchment area of this wetland is predominantly agriculture. Yashwant Sagar is considered to be a stronghold of the vulnerable Sarus Crane in central India. The lake backwaters have plenty of shallow areas, conducive for waders and other waterfowl. As the water level recedes, many islands serve as roosting sites for waterfowl. Due to its vast shallow reed beds, the wetland is considered heaven to a large number of winter migratory birds.

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.