The Ramsar Convention (formally, The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance) is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands. The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance holds the unique distinction of being the first modern treaty between nations aimed at conserving natural resources.
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was signed at Ramsar, Iran on February 2nd, 1971 and came into force on December 21, 1975. The convention was hosted by the Iranian Department of Environment.
The Ramsar Convention’s broad aims are to halt the worldwide loss of wetlands and to conserve those that remain by means of international cooperation, policy making, capacity building and technology transfer.
The Ramsar definition of wetlands is fairly wide, including “areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters” as well as fish ponds, rice paddies and salt pans.
To explain in simple words,
- The Wetlands include swamps, marshes, billabongs, lakes, salt marshes, mudflats, mangroves, coral reefs, fens, peat bogs, or bodies of water (natural or man-made; permanent or temporary).
- Water within these areas can be static or flowing; fresh, brackish or saline.
- It can include inland rivers and coastal or marine water to a depth of six metres at low tide. There are even underground wetlands.
At present, The Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance includes 2,122 sites covering an area of 507,470,800 acres.
There are 168 Contracting parties. The nation with highest number of sites is the United Kingdom (169) and the nation with greatest area of listed wetlands is Canada.
The Ramsar Convention works closely with five other organizations known as International Organization Partners (IOPs). These are:
- Birdlife International
- The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
- The International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
- Wetlands International and
- WWF International.
The IOPs provide expert technical advice, help in implementing field studies and provide financial support.
The Ramsar Convention encourages conserving biological diversity of the rare or unique wetlands. Wetlands can be included on the List of Wetlands of International Importance because of their ecological, botanical, zoological or hydrological importance. The designated sites are added to the Convention’s List of Wetlands of International Importance and become known as Ramsar sites.
In designating a wetland as a Ramsar site, countries agree to establish and oversee a management framework aimed at conserving the wetland and maintaining its ecological character.
To see the list of Ramsar wetland sites in India