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Education > Wetland 101 > International Convention on Wetlands

People all over the world are working to protect, restore, and teach about wetlands. In 1971, the nations of the world came together to sign The International Convention on Wetlands (popularly known as the Ramsar Convention named after the city in which the convention was signed), which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

The Convention 's Mission: "The conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local, regional and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world"

The Convention works through the designation of wetlands as Wetlands of International Importance.
There are presently 156 Contracting Parties to the Convention, with 1676 wetland sites, totaling 150 million hectares, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

In the U.S., there are 22 designated Wetlands of International Importance. Scattered throughout the nation from Hawaii to New Jersey, these important wetlands represent the rich diversity of wetlands from salt marshes that fringe the eastern and southern coasts to prairie potholes which dot the mid-west landscape.

Celebrate Wetlands of International Importance
every winter!
February 2nd is World Wetlands Day!

U.S. Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, NE	Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, FL
Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, NJ	Caddo Lake, TX
Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, AK	Connecticut River Estuary, CT
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, FL	Cache River-Cypress Creek Wetlands
Everglades National Park, FL	Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge, SD
Chesapeake Bay Estuary Complex	Bolinas Lagoon, CA
Horicon Marsh Complex , WI	Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, KS
Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Management Area, KS	Tomales Bay, CA
Lower Cache - White Rivers, AR	Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, CA
Catahoula Lake, LA	Grassland Ecological Area, CA
Deleware Bay Estuary Complex, NJ	Kawainui and Hamakua Marsh Complex, HI

Selection for the Ramsar List is based on the wetland’s significance in terms of ecology, botany, zoology, limnology, or hydrology.
The following criteria are used when selecting Wetlands of International Importance.

	Criteria based on...	A wetland should be considered internationally important if it...
Group A: Sites containing representative, rare or unique wetland types		Criterion 1: contains a representative, rare, or unique example of a natural or near-natural wetland type found within the approproate biogeographic region.
Group B: Sites of International Importance for conserving biodiversity	Species and Ecological Communities	Criterion 2: supports vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered species or threatened ecological communities.
		Criterion 3: supports populations of plany and/or animal species important for maintaining the biological diversity of a particular biogeographic region.
		Criterion 4: supports plant and/or animal species at a critical stage in their life cycles, or provides refuge during adverse conditions.
	Waterbirds	Criterion 5: regularly supports 20,000 or more waterbirds.
	Waterbirds	Criterion 6: regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of waterbird.
	Fish	Criterion 7: 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.
	Fish	Criterion 8: is an important source of food for fishes, spawning groung, nursery and/or migration path on which fish stocks, either within the wetland or elsewhere, depend.
	Other Taxa	Criterion 9: regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of wetland-dependent non-avian animal species.

Want to Learn More About the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands?

Environmental Concern is the Point of Contact for U.S. Wetlands Communications, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA).
Feel free to contact us with any question you may have regarding Ramsar International or U.S. Ramsar at (410)745-9620

Ramsar.org
All the news, background information, and documentation of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands can be found here. The architecture of the site is grounded in the English language, but all key documentation and many other files are also available in French and Spanish, the other official working languages of the Convention. The site is updated almost daily with the most recent news and developments and has become the primary communications mechanism of the Convention Secretariat.

U.S. National Ramsar Committee
The US. National Ramsar Committee (USNRC) is made up of a group of wetland-focused organizations and government agencies – tasked with identifying, and supporting the designation of critical wetland sites, promoting the wise-use of wetlands, educating about the importance of wetlands and liaising with counterparts wordwide. It is an exciting time for U.S. Ramsar – and you can be a part of it. The USNRC is currently seeking new members. Individuals, agencies and organizations are invited to join. As a member, you will be intimately involved in designating new sites, supporting existing sites, and will also become a part of an international dialog on wetland management and protection.

The Ramsar Forum
An e-mail list devoted to the wide range of news, announcements, queries and replies, and statements of opinion concerning the conservation and sustainable use of wetland resources in general and the Ramsar Convention in particular. The Ramsar Forum is an official service of the Ramsar Secretariat and all interested persons are encouraged to join; messages are welcome in any of the Convention’s three official languages (English, French, and Spanish). As of September 2007, there were 930 members of the Forum.

You may join the Ramsar Forum simply by sending a blank e-mail message to the following address: ramsar-forum-join@indaba.iucn.org.

The CEPA E-mail Lists
People concerned with Communications, Education, and Public Awareness (CEPA) about wetlands may join one of the Secretariat’s three CEPA e-mail lists (for English, French, and Spanish), where they may share news, announcements, opinions, links to materials, and experiences from wetland education centres. Members include designated government and NGO national focal points as well as any members of the public with an interest. In September 2007, there were about 500 members in the English group, 150 in the Spanish, and 100 in the French. To join one of the lists: www.ramsar.org/outreach_cepalist.htm.

Ramsar Sites Database
Wetlands International, based in Wageningen, The Netherlands, maintains the Ramsar Sites Database, which includes all of the information on Wetlands of International Importance that has been submitted by the Parties, and it operates the Ramsar Sites Information Service to allow members of the public to search the database and receive reports of the results. The Web site is at www.wetlands.org/rsis.

Direct Inquiry
Have you got a targeted question about something related to the Ramsar Convention? Send a message to ramsar@ramsar.org and ask it – normally, you’ll receive a reply of some sort within 24 hours. Given staff constraints, questions like “Send me data about wetlands” or “How should we fight invasive species” are too broad to be addressed by this means, but specific inquiries are always welcome.