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The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance is an international treaty signed by 171 countries to protect wetlands. It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the Convention was signed in 1971. It began with 18 only countries in 1971
The last country to join was North Korea in 2018, making it one of the largest international agreements, after the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, 196 countries) and the UN Climate change agreement (UNFCCC, 197 countries).
These 171 countries together designated over 2,389 Ramsar wetlands that they promise to protect and manage in a sustainable way. Together these sites cover about 2.5 million km2 of wetlands. The signatory countries promise to make inventories of their Ramsar sites and to develop management plans. These management plans include the sustainable use of the many other functions of wetlands, such as food production, water storage, and recreation.
The world’s first Site was the Cobourg Peninsula in Australia, designated in 1974. The largest Sites are Ngiri-Tumba-Maindombe in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Queen Maud Gulf in Canada; these Sites each cover over 60,000 square kilometres. Others are as small as one hectare.
The countries with the most Sites are the United Kingdom with 175 and Mexico with 142. Bolivia has the largest area with 148,000 km2 under the Convention protection.
Every three years, representatives of the Contracting Parties meet as the Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP) to administer and improve the work of the Convention. The recent COP, the COP13 was held in Dubai in October 2018. The next COP, the (COP14) will take place in Wuhan, China in 2021.
February 2 is celebrated as International Wetlands Day as the Ramsar Convention was signed on February 2 in 1971.
A well-known example of successful wetland management is Lake Chilika, the first Ramsar-site in India. Through measures such as active restoration of the connection to the sea, development of ecotourism, fishery reform and participation of the local population the wetland is now managed in a sustainable way. These efforts have led to visible improvements in the environment, most notably an increase in the number of rare Irrawaddy dolphins, from only 89 individuals in 2003 to 158 in 2014.
Wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded by water, either permanently or seasonally. The primary factor that distinguishes wetlands from other land forms or water bodies is the characteristic vegetation of aquatic plants.
Wetlands play a number of functions, including water purification, water storage, processing of carbon and other nutrients, stabilization of shorelines, and support of plants and animals.
Wetlands provide us with water, they protect us from floods, droughts and other disasters, they provide food and livelihoods to millions of people, they support rich biodiversity, and they store more carbon than any other ecosystem. Yet, the value of wetlands remains largely unrecognized by policy and decision makers.
Wetlands are among the most diverse and productive ecosystems. They provide essential services and supply all our fresh water. However they continue to be degraded and converted to other uses.
Up to 87% of the global wetland resource has been lost since 1700. We lose wetlands three times faster than natural forests.
Wetland-dependent species are in serious decline. Since 1970, declines have affected 81% of inland wetland species populations and 36% of coastal and marine species.
The loss of wetlands continues with direct and measurable negative impacts on the quality and availability of water, food security, biodiversity and carbon sequestration.
Healthy, functioning wetlands are essential to delivering a range of global targets, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Aichi biodiversity targets, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and Land Degradation Neutrality.
The Convention uses a broad definition of wetlands. It includes all lakes and rivers, underground aquifers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands, peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, mangroves and other coastal areas, coral reefs, and all human-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs and salt pans.
The “three pillars” of the Convention
Under the “three pillars” of the Convention, the Contracting Parties commit to:
1. work towards the wise use of all their wetlands;
2. designate suitable wetlands for the list of Wetlands of International Importance (the “Ramsar List”) and ensure their effective management;
3. cooperate internationally on transboundary wetlands, shared wetland systems and shared species.
Ramsar sites in India
A total of 37 sites in the country have been recognised
The Ramsar Strategic Plan 2016-2024 includes four goals and 19 targets.

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