Ramsar Convention

The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands. The official title is "The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat". The convention was agreed in at a meeting in Ramsar[?], Iran on February 2, 1971 and came into force in 1975.

The Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance lists over 1,200 sites covering around 105 million hectares. There were 1,021 sites listed in 2000. The nation with the most listed sites is the United Kingdom with 169, the nation with the greatest area listed is Canada with over 13 million hectares including the Queen Maud Gulf[?] site of 6.28 million hectares.

There are 136 contracting parties, up from 119 in 2000 and from 18 initial signatory nations in 1971 (there is a list of 123 signatories here). They meet every three years as the Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP), the first was held in Cagliari, Italy in 1980. Amendments to the original convention were agreed in Paris (1982) and Regina (1987)

There is a standing committee, a review panel and a secretariat. The headquarters is in Gland, Switzerland[?] shared with the IUCN.

External link

• http://www.ramsar.org/