The Ramsar Convention Manual

A Guide to the Convention on Wetlands
(Ramsar, Iran, 1971)

3rd edition

Ramsar Convention Secretariat - 2004

The Ramsar Convention Manual: a Guide to the Convention on Wetlands
(Ramsar, Iran, 1971), 3rd ed. Gland, Switzerland: Ramsar Convention Secretariat, 2004.

Note on the PDF version: The Manual pages are laid out for A4 size paper printed at 100%; readers intending to print to "letter-size" (8.5x11") paper should set their Acrobat printer set-up to "scale to fit" or something similar.

Copyright © Ramsar Convention Secretariat 2004

Reproduction of material from this publication for educational and other non-commercial purposes is authorized without prior permission from the Ramsar Secretariat, providing full acknowledgment is given. Reproduction of material for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without the prior written permission of the Ramsar Secretariat.

Note: The designation of geographical entities in this Manual, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Ramsar Convention Secretariat concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Citation: Ramsar Convention Secretariat, 2004. The Ramsar Convention Manual: a Guide to the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971), 3rd ed. Ramsar Convention Secretariat, Gland, Switzerland.

2 February - World Wetlands Day
Join the worldwide Ramsar community in commemorating the anniversary of the Convention.

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Table of Contents

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Foreword to the 3rd English edition

When the Ramsar Manual was first compiled by T. J. Davis and published in 1994, it was enthusiastically welcomed as an essential vade mecum through the sometimes bewildering world of Ramsar resolutions, guidelines, and terminology. It grew out of date quickly, however, especially because the work completed by the Conference of the Contracting Parties at its 6th meeting, held in Brisbane in 1996, added a large number of new tools to the Convention's armamentarium.

Accordingly, a second edition was published in 1997, incorporating all of the institutional changes of the preceding three years and including as annexes all of the major documents associated with the Convention.

Following COP7 in San José in 1999, however, it was felt that the volume of Ramsar documentary material had simply grown too large to be included as appendices to the Manual, and that the growing use by the public of the Ramsar Web site had made the descriptive body of the Manual less necessary. At that time, then, the Ramsar Manual was let go out of print, and the 9-volume "Ramsar Toolkit" (The Ramsar Handbooks for the Wise Use of Wetlands) was published separately in January 2000 in order to make available all of the major guidance adopted by the COP.

The Handbooks have proved to be invaluable, and a second edition, including the guidance documents emerging from COP8 in Valencia in 2002, will be available on CD-ROM in early 2004. The judgment about the explanatory body of the Manual, however, turned out to be wrong, and many people have argued that there is still a need for a brief, printed introduction to the Convention and its processes.

Thus this third edition contains a thorough update of the second, taking account of all that has changed since 1997. In place of the 2nd edition's 17 documentary appendices, however, in this edition we have substituted merely a list of references to the Web addresses of all of the documents mentioned in the text and a list of the contents of the forthcoming 14-volume Handbooks series. For Ramsar documents and resources mentioned in the text without references, those links can be found in Appendix 3.

Suggestions for additions and improvements to this Manual in an eventual fourth edition will be very welcome.

Note: Parts of the following text have been cross-referenced to other sections of the text by use of the symbol § to indicate section numbers.

March 2004

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1. The Ramsar Convention

1.1 What is the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands?

The Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty adopted on 2 February 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea. Thus, though nowadays the name of the Convention is usually written "Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971)", it has come to be known popularly as the "Ramsar Convention". Ramsar is the first of the modern global intergovernmental treaties on the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, but, compared with more recent ones, its provisions are relatively straightforward and general. Over the years, the Conference of the Contracting Parties has further developed and interpreted the basic tenets of the treaty text and succeeded in keeping the work of the Convention abreast of changing world perceptions, priorities, and trends in environmental thinking.

The official name of the treaty, The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat, reflects the original emphasis upon the conservation and wise use of wetlands primarily as habitat for waterbirds. Over the years, however, the Convention has broadened its scope to cover all aspects of wetland conservation and wise use, recognizing wetlands as ecosystems that are extremely important for biodiversity conservation and for the well-being of human communities. For this reason, the increasingly common use of the short form of the treaty's title, the "Convention on Wetlands", is entirely appropriate. (Changing the name of the treaty requires amending the treaty itself, a cumbersome process that for the time being the Contracting Parties are not willing to undertake.)

The Convention entered into force in 1975 and now (as of February 2004) has 138 Contracting Parties, or member States, in all parts of the world. Though the central Ramsar message is the need for the sustainable use of all wetlands, the "flagship" of the Convention is the List of Wetlands of International Importance (the "Ramsar List") - presently, the Parties have designated for this List more than 1,370 wetlands for special protection as "Ramsar Sites", covering 120 million hectares (1.2 million square kilometres), larger than the surface area of France, Germany, and Switzerland combined.

The Depositary receives, reviews, and accepts the instruments of accession of each country member of the treaty, keeps the official text of the Convention in six official languages, and provides legal interpretations of the text when required. The Depositary does not have a role in the administration and/or implementation of the treaty.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) serves as Depositary for the Convention, but the Ramsar Convention is not part of the United Nations and UNESCO system of environment conventions and agreements. The Convention is responsible only to its Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP), and its day-to-day administration has been entrusted to a secretariat under the authority of a Standing Committee elected by the COP. The Ramsar Secretariat is hosted by IUCN-The World Conservation Union in Gland, Switzerland.

The mission of the Ramsar Convention, as adopted by the Parties in 1999 and refined in 2002, is "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".

1.2 What are wetlands?

Wetlands are areas where water is the primary factor controlling the environment and the associated plant and animal life. They occur where the water table is at or near the surface of the land, or where the land is covered by shallow water.

The Ramsar Convention takes a broad approach in determining the wetlands which come under its aegis. Under the text of the Convention (Article 1.1), wetlands are defined as:

In addition, for the purpose of protecting coherent sites, the Article 2.1 provides that wetlands to be included in the Ramsar List of internationally important wetlands:

Five major wetland types are generally recognized:

In addition, there are human-made wetlands such as fish and shrimp ponds, farm ponds, irrigated agricultural land, salt pans, reservoirs, gravel pits, sewage farms and canals. The Ramsar Convention has adopted a Ramsar Classification of Wetland Type which includes 42 types, grouped into three categories: Marine and Coastal Wetlands, Inland Wetlands, and Human-made Wetlands.

According to the text of the Convention, marine wetlands are considered to be wetlands up to a depth of six meters at low tide (the figure is thought to come from the maximum depth to which sea ducks can dive whilst feeding), but the treaty also provides for waters deeper than six meters, as well as islands, to be included within the boundaries of protected wetlands. It is also worth noting that lakes and rivers are understood to be covered by the Ramsar definition of wetlands in their entirety, regardless of their depth.

Wetlands occur everywhere, from the tundra to the tropics. How much of the earth's surface is presently composed of wetlands is not known exactly. The World Conservation Monitoring Centre has suggested an estimate of about 570 million hectares (5.7 million km2) - roughly 6% of the Earth's land surface - of which 2% are lakes, 30% bogs, 26% fens, 20% swamps, and 15% floodplains. Mitsch and Gosselink, in their standard textbook Wetlands, 3d ed. (2000), suggest 4 to 6% of the Earth's land surface. Mangroves cover some 240,000 km2 of coastal area, and an estimated 600,000km2 of coral reefs remain worldwide. Nevertheless, a global review of wetland resources prepared for Ramsar COP7 in 1999, while affirming that "it is not possible to provide an acceptable figure of the areal extent of wetlands at a global scale", indicated a 'best' minimum global estimate at between 748 and 778 million hectares. The same report indicated that this "minimum" could be increased to a total of between 999 and 4,462 million hectares when other sources of information were taken into account.

1.3 Why conserve wetlands?

Wetlands are among the world's most productive environments. They are cradles of biological diversity, providing the water and primary productivity upon which countless species of plants and animals depend for survival. They support high concentrations of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrate species. Wetlands are also important storehouses of plant genetic material. Rice, for example, which is a common wetland plant, is the staple diet of more than half of humanity.

The multiple roles of wetland ecosystems and their value to humanity have been increasingly understood and documented in recent years. This has led to large expenditures to restore lost or degraded hydrological and biological functions of wetlands. But it's not enough - the race is on to improve practices on a significant global scale as the world's leaders try to cope with the accelerating water crisis and the effects of climate change. And this at a time when the world's population is likely to increase by 70 million every year for the next 20 years.

Global freshwater consumption rose sixfold between 1900 and 1995 - more than double the rate of population growth. One third of the world's population today lives in countries already experiencing moderate to high water stress. By 2025, two out of every three people on Earth may well face life in water stressed conditions.

The ability of wetlands to adapt to changing conditions, and to accelerating rates of change, will be crucial to human communities and wildlife everywhere as the full impact of climate change on our ecosystem lifelines is felt. Small wonder that there is a worldwide focus on wetlands and their services to us.

Policy- and decision-makers frequently make development decisions based upon simple calculations of the monetary pros and cons of the proposals before them - the importance of wetlands for the environment and for human societies has traditionally been under-rated in these calculations because of the difficulty of assigning dollar values to the wetland ecosystem's values and benefits, goods and services. Thus, more and more economists and other scientists are working in the growing field of the valuation of ecosystem services. This is a difficult task, but in order for decision-makers to have the correct information before them about the comparable monetary values of a healthy wetland, the economic losses of a lost or degraded wetland, there is no choice but to progress in this direction. Some recent studies have indicated that ecosystems provide at least US$ 33 trillion worth of services annually, of which about US$ 4.9 trillion are attributed to wetlands.

In addition, wetlands are important, and sometimes essential, for the health, welfare and safety of people who live in or near them. They are amongst the world's most productive environments and provide a wide array of benefits.

(a) Functions

The interactions of physical, biological and chemical components of a wetland, such as soils, water, plants and animals, enable the wetland to perform many vital functions, for example:

(b) Values

Wetlands frequently provide tremendous economic benefits, for example:

In addition, wetlands have special attributes as part of the cultural heritage of humanity - they are related to religious and cosmological beliefs and spiritual values, constitute a source of aesthetic and artistic inspiration, yield invaluable archaeological evidence from the remote past, provide wildlife sanctuaries, and form the basis of important local social, economic, and cultural traditions.

These functions, values, and attributes can only be maintained if the ecological processes of wetlands are allowed to continue functioning. Unfortunately, and in spite of important progress made in recent decades, wetlands continue to be among the world's most threatened ecosystems, owing mainly to ongoing drainage, conversion, pollution, and over-exploitation of their resources.

The Convention's 11-sheet information pack on "Wetland Values and Functions" and 10-sheet info pack on "The Cultural Heritage of Wetlands" are available from the Secretariat and on the Ramsar Web site.

1.4 Why an intergovernmental convention on wetlands?

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was developed as a means to call international attention to the rate at which wetland habitats were disappearing, in part due to a lack of understanding of their important functions, values, goods and services. Governments that join the Convention are expressing their willingness to make a commitment to helping to reverse that history of wetland loss and degradation.

In addition, many wetlands are international systems lying across the boundaries of two or more States, or are part of river basins that include more than one State. The health of these and other wetlands is dependent upon the quality and quantity of the transboundary water supply from rivers, streams, lakes, or underground aquifers. The best intentions of countries on either side of those frontiers can be frustrated without a framework for international discussion and cooperation toward mutual benefits.

Human impacts on water sources, such as agricultural, industrial or domestic pollution, may occur at considerable distances from wetland areas, often beyond the borders of the States affected. Where this occurs, wetland habitats can be degraded or even destroyed, and the health and livelihood of local people put at risk.

Many of the wetland fauna, for example some fish species, many waterbirds, insects such as butterflies and dragonflies, and mammals such as otters, are migratory species whose conservation and management also require international cooperation.

In sum, wetlands constitute a resource of great economic, cultural, scientific and recreational value to human life; wetlands and people are ultimately interdependent. As such, the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands needs to be stemmed, and measures must be taken to conserve and make wise use of wetland resources. To achieve this at a global level requires cooperative, intergovernmental action. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands provides the framework for such international, as well as for national and local action.

1.5 Why do nations join the Ramsar Convention?

Membership in the Ramsar Convention:

According to National Reports submitted by Contracting Parties, the Convention has frequently been instrumental in halting or preventing negative developments affecting wetlands. Some examples include:

Many Contracting Parties have noted that their conservation efforts have been greatly assisted by the inclusion of a wetland site in the Montreux Record of Ramsar Sites requiring priority attention (§4.1.5). For example:

Wetlands need not be of international importance for the Ramsar Convention to play a part in their conservation and wise use. The very fact that a State is a Contracting Party to the Convention can be used to establish the necessary legislative and management framework to ensure the long-term productivity and effective environmental functions of all its wetlands.

1.6 Who may join the Ramsar Convention?

According to Article 9.2 of the Convention on Wetlands, "Any member of the United Nations or of one of the Specialized Agencies or of the International Atomic Energy Agency or Party to the Statute of the International Court of Justice may become a Party to this Convention". Unfortunately, supranational bodies, such as the European Community, are thus not eligible to join the Convention, but may nevertheless develop bilateral working agreements with the Convention secretariat.

No state is too small to join as long as it can designate a wetland which meets one or more of the Criteria for Identifying Wetlands of International Importance (§4.1.1) adopted by the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Convention.

1.7 What are the commitments of Parties joining the Ramsar Convention?

Because wetlands are important for maintaining key ecological processes, for their rich flora and fauna, and for the benefits that they provide to local communities and to human society in general, the broad objectives of the Convention are to ensure their conservation and wise use. States that join the Convention accept four main commitments, which are:

1.7.1 Listed sites (Article 2 of the Convention. See Appendix 1)

The first obligation under the Convention is for a Party to designate at least one wetland at the time of accession for inclusion in the List of Wetlands of International Importance (the "Ramsar List") (Article 2.4) and to promote its conservation, and in addition to continue to "designate suitable wetlands within its territory" for the List (Article 2.1). Selection for the Ramsar List should be based on the wetland's significance in terms of ecology, botany, zoology, limnology, or hydrology. The Contracting Parties have developed specific criteria and guidelines for identifying sites that qualify for inclusion in the Ramsar List.

In Article 3.2 (§4.1.7), the Parties have committed themselves "to arrange to be informed at the earliest possible time if the ecological character of any wetland in its territory and included in the List has changed, is changing or is likely to change as the result of technological developments, pollution or other human interference. Information on such changes shall be passed without delay" to the Ramsar Secretariat.

1.7.2 Wise use (Article 3 of the Convention)

Under the Convention there is a general obligation for the Contracting Parties to include wetland conservation considerations in their national land-use planning. They have commited themselves to formulate and implement this planning so as to promote, as far as possible, "the wise use of wetlands in their territory" (Article 3.1 of the treaty).

The Conference of the Contracting Parties has approved guidelines and additional guidance on how to achieve "wise use", which has been interpreted as being synonymous with "sustainable use" (§4.2). The COP has also adopted detailed guidance on the development of National Wetland Policies and on management planning for individual wetland sites.

1.7.3 Reserves and training (Article 4 of the Convention)

Contracting Parties have also undertaken to establish nature reserves in wetlands, whether or not they are included in the Ramsar List, and they are also expected to promote training in the fields of wetland research, management and wardening.

1.7.4 International cooperation (Article 5 of the Convention)

Contracting Parties have also agreed to consult with other Contracting Parties about implementation of the Convention, especially in regard to transfrontier wetlands, shared water systems, and shared species.

1.7.5 Compliance with the commitments

The Ramsar Convention is not a regulatory regime and has no punitive sanctions for violations of or defaulting upon treaty commitments - nevertheless, its terms do constitute a solemn treaty and are binding in international law in that sense. The whole edifice is based upon an expectation of common and equitably shared transparent accountability. Failure to live up to that expectation could lead to political and diplomatic discomfort in high-profile international fora, and would prevent any Party concerned from getting the most, more generally, out of what would otherwise be a robust and coherent system of checks and balances and mutual support frameworks. Failure to meet the treaty's commitments may also impact upon success in other ways, for example, in efforts to secure international funding for wetland conservation. In addition, some national jurisdictions now embody international Ramsar obligations in national law and/or policy with direct effect in their own court systems.

1.8 Further interpretation of the commitments

Over the years, the Conference of the Contracting Parties has interpreted and elaborated upon these four major obligations included within the text of the treaty, and it has developed guidelines for assisting the Parties in their implementation. These guidelines are published in the Ramsar Handbook series and on the Ramsar Web site.

Although Resolutions do not have the same legal force as commitments specified in the convention text itself, the Contracting Parties further spelt out their interpretation of their responsibilities in Resolution 5.1 (1993) of the Conference of the Parties ("Framework for the Implementation of the Ramsar Convention"), as follows:

(a) Conservation of wetlands

(b) Promotion of international cooperation in wetland conservation

(c) Fostering communication about wetland conservation

(d) Supporting the work of the Convention

1.9 Reporting

One extremely important part of the Parties' responsibilities, suggested in the text and subsequently confirmed by COP decisions, has to do with reporting on the implementation of the Convention within their territories. The Parties report on their progress in meeting their commitments under the Convention by submitting triennial National Reports (§3.1) to the Conference of the Contracting Parties - these are prepared following a format adopted by the Parties which follows the Strategic Plan of the Convention, and they become part of the public record. In addition, under Article 3.2 of the treaty (§4.1.7), Parties are expected to report to the Secretariat any changes or threats to the ecological character of their listed wetlands and to respond to the Secretariat's inquiries about such reports received from third parties.

1.10 The Ramsar Convention today

As of February 2004, there are 138 Contracting Parties, or member States, in all parts of the world. More than 1,370 wetlands have been designated for inclusion in the List of Wetlands of International Importance, covering 120 million hectares (1.2 million square kilometres), larger than the surface area of France, Germany, and Switzerland combined.

Representatives of the Contracting Parties convene at least every three years in meetings of the "Conference of the Contracting Parties", or COP (§3.1), to discuss the implementation of the Convention and its further development, to consider national experiences, to review the status of sites on the List of Wetlands of International Importance, to adopt technical and policy guidance for the Parties on matters affecting the wetlands in their territories, to promote cooperative activities, to receive reports from international organizations, and to adopt the budget for the Convention secretariat for the ensuing three years.

The Convention is administered by a secretariat (§3.3), an independent body hosted by IUCN-The World Conservation Union under the authority of the Ramsar Standing Committee. Its headquarters are located in Gland, Switzerland.

1.11 The Ramsar Strategic Plan and the "three pillars" of the Convention

The 6th meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP6), held in Brisbane, Australia, in 1996, adopted an innovative Strategic Plan 1997-2002 which became a model for the planning processes of other conventions. Following on from the success of that plan, COP8, in Valencia, Spain, 2002, concluded three years of consultation and drafting by adopting the Strategic Plan 2003-2008. Its purpose is not only to continue the thrust of the first plan but also to take account of the fact that a still broader approach to wetland conservation and sustainable development was needed, notably in relation to poverty eradication and food and water security, integrated approaches to water management, climate change and its predicted impacts, increasing globalization of trade and reducing of trade barriers, the increasing role of the private sector, and the increasing influence of development banks and international development agencies.

In the second Strategic Plan, Contracting Parties seek to deliver their commitments to wetland conservation and wise use through "three pillars" of action. These are:

Each of these "three pillars" is addressed by a General Objective of the Strategic Plan. Two further General Objectives provide the means to undertake effective implementation of the objectives related to the three pillars of the Convention. The five General Objectives give structure to a total of 21 Operational Objectives, covering the following subject areas:

The Strategic Plan 2003-2008 is available in English, French, and Spanish on the Ramsar Web site and can be obtained in hard copy or CD-ROM from the Ramsar Secretariat.

1.12 Synergies with other environment-related conventions

The benefits of coordination and collaboration amongst conventions and international organizations with related or overlapping missions have been widely recognized for some time. The Ramsar Secretariat has devoted a great deal of effort to developing synergies with other environment-related instruments, and continues to do so. In some cases, follow-up assessments of the tangible progress of these relationships have shown that the initiative has been well worth it to all parties concerned. Similarly, the Secretariat has been taking vigorous steps to encourage Ramsar's "Administrative Authorities" (national focal points, §3.4) to build close working relationships with their counterparts for the other conventions at national level. (Synergies with other organizations and institutions besides the conventions can be found in §3.9.)

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

In January 1996, the secretariats of the Ramsar Convention and the CBD signed a Memorandum of Cooperation, and in November 1996, the CBD's COP3 invited Ramsar "to cooperate as a lead partner" in implementing CBD activities related to wetlands. Accordingly a Joint Work Plan 1998-1999 between the two conventions was developed and implemented, and then a second Joint Work Plan was successfully carried out for the period 2000-2001 - presently a third Joint Work Plan, for the period 2002-2006, endorsed by the 6th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity, April 2002, and by Ramsar COP8 (Resolution VIII.5) in November 2002, is continuing to provide a blueprint for mutual cooperation between the conventions. The Conferences of the Parties of both conventions have also called for increased communication and cooperation between their subsidiary scientific bodies, the CBD's Subsidiary Body for Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) and the Ramsar Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP, §3.5), and members of both of these bodies regularly participate in the work and meetings of one another.

The Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)

The Ramsar Secretariat and the CMS Secretariat signed a Memorandum of Understanding in February 1997. It seeks to ensure cooperation between the two secretariats in the fields of joint promotion of the two conventions; joint conservation action; data collection, storage and analysis; and new agreements on migratory species, including endangered migratory species and species with an unfavorable conservation status. Some concrete results of this relationship have already been observed, particularly with regards to coordinated work between Ramsar and the CMS's African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA). A three-way joint work plan between the secretariats of the CMS, AEWA, and the Ramsar Convention was signed in April 2004.

UNESCO World Heritage Convention

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Ramsar Secretariat and the World Heritage Centre in May 1999. The Ramsar Secretariat and the World Heritage officer in charge of natural sites maintain a close working relationship with a view to:

In particular, World Heritage and Ramsar have worked extraordinarily closely on joint expert advisory missions recently to Ichkeul in Tunisia, to Djoudj and Diawling in Senegal and Mauritania, and to Lake Srebarna in Bulgaria.

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

Wetlands are crucially important everywhere, and even more so in arid lands. Thus the Ramsar Secretariat was present at the first UNCCD Conference of the Parties in October 1997, where it distributed to the delegates an information document on "Wetlands in Arid Zones". In December 1998, during the second UNCCD Conference of the Parties in Dakar, the Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention and the Executive Secretary of the CCD signed a Memorandum of Cooperation between the secretariats to help to increase communication between them, coordinate efforts, and avoid duplication. Practical cooperation between the secretariats has been developing only slowly so far, however.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

In preparation for UNFCCC COP5, the Ramsar Secretariat commissioned IUCN to prepare a technical document entitled Wetlands and Climate Change: exploring collaboration between the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The paper was translated into the six UN official languages and distributed to the UNFCCC's Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and to delegates to its COP5.

As a result SBSTA "requested the secretariat [of UNFCCC] to liaise with the secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands on the specific issues identified in the oral report delivered by the representative of that secretariat in order to determine how cooperation between the conventions could be strengthened. The SBSTA requested the secretariat to report back to it on this matter at its twelfth session." The Ramsar Secretariat is working with the UNFCCC secretariat to prepare an official document for submission to SBSTA and to an upcoming UNFCCC Conference of the Parties. In Resolution VIII.3 (2002), the Conference of the Parties requested the Ramsar STRP to work further with the UNFCCC and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the relationships between wetlands and climate change.

Regional conventions and basin commissions

The Ramsar Secretariat has also effected Memoranda of Cooperation with UNEP's Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (Cartagena Convention), signed in May 2000, and with the Coordinating Unit of the Mediterranean Action Plan of the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention), signed in February 2001. The South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is a partner with the Ramsar Convention under a Joint Work Plan that covers the period 2002-2003, and the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) cooperates under the terms of an agreement signed in November 2000. Furthermore, the Ramsar Convention and WWF's Living Waters Programme are both closely involved in the work of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and the Niger Basin Authority, with both of which the Ramsar Secretariat has memoranda of cooperation signed in November 2002.

Coordination among conventions

The Ramsar Secretariat participates in the conventions' coordinating meetings organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and has welcomed the tendency of these meetings to focus less on purely administrative matters and more upon substantive coordination issues. The Ramsar Secretariat has contributed staff time and financial resources to joint working groups and studies aimed at harmonizing the requirements of the biodiversity-related conventions, as for example a study carried out by the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) on the feasibility of harmonizing reporting requirements under the different instruments, and has participated in UNEP's Environmental Management Group (EMG).

A decision by the UNFCCC's COP8 (December 2002) recently invited the Ramsar Convention to participate in the work of the Joint Liaison Group (JLG) of UNFCCC, the CBD, and UNCCD. In addition, the five biodiversity-related conventions - the CBD, CITES, CMS, Ramsar, and World Heritage - have a Joint Web site hosted by the CBD secretariat, initiated in March 1999.

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2. A brief history of the Ramsar Convention

2.1 Background

The initial call for an international convention on wetlands came in 1962 during a conference which formed part of Project MAR (from "MARshes", "MARécages", "MARismas"), a programme established in 1960 following concern at the rapidity with which large stretches of marshland and other wetlands in Europe were being "reclaimed" or otherwise destroyed, with a resulting decline in numbers of waterfowl.

The MAR Conference was organized by Dr Luc Hoffmann, with the participation of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (now IUCN-The World Conservation Union), the International Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Bureau, IWRB (now Wetlands International), and the International Council for Bird Preservation, ICBP (now BirdLife International), and was held in Les Saintes Maries-de-la-Mer in the French Camargue, 12-16 November 1962.

Over the next eight years, a convention text was negotiated through a series of international technical meetings (St. Andrews, 1963; Noordwijk, 1966; Leningrad, 1968; Morges, 1968; Vienna, 1969; Moscow, 1969; Espoo, 1970), held mainly under the auspices of IWRB, the guidance of Prof. G.V.T. Matthews, and the leadership of the Government of the Netherlands. Initially the envisaged convention was directed specifically at the conservation of waterfowl through the creation of a network of refuges, but as the text developed, especially with the expert advice of legal consultant Mr Cyrille de Klemm, conservation of wetland habitat (rather than species) took prominence.

Finally, at an international meeting organized by Mr Eskander Firouz, Director of Iran's Game and Fish Department, and held in the Caspian seaside resort of Ramsar in Iran, the text of the Convention was agreed on 2 February 1971 and signed by the delegates of 18 nations the next day.

The Convention entered into force in December 1975, upon receipt by UNESCO, the Convention Depositary, of the seventh instrument of accession to or ratification of the Convention, which came from Greece. The Convention celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2001 and now has Contracting Parties from all regions of the world.

Since its adoption, the Ramsar Convention has been modified on two occasions: by a protocol (a new treaty which amends the original treaty) in December 1982, and by a series of amendments to the original treaty, known as the "Regina Amendments" of 1987.

2.2 The Paris Protocol and the Regina Amendments

The Paris Protocol was adopted at an Extraordinary Conference of the Contracting Parties which was held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris in December 1982. The Protocol, which came into force in 1986, established a procedure for amending the Convention (Article 10 bis) and adopted official versions of the treaty in Arabic, French, English, German, Russian and Spanish. Almost all Contracting Parties have now accepted the Paris Protocol, and new Contracting Parties normally join the Ramsar Convention as amended by the Paris Protocol and the Regina Amendments (Appendix 1).

The Regina Amendments are a series of amendments to Articles 6 and 7 that were accepted at an Extraordinary Conference of the Contracting Parties (§3.1) held in Regina, Canada, in 1987. These did not affect the basic substantive principles of the Convention, but related to its operation - briefly, the amendments defined the powers of the Conference of the Parties, established an intersessional Standing Committee, and established both a permanent secretariat and a budget for the Convention. These amendments came into force on 1 May 1994, although the Parties, in the spirit of Resolution 3.4 from the 1987 meeting, observed the provisions of the amendments on a voluntary basis throughout the interim period.

2.3 A Ramsar chronology - key events

2 February 1971
The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat is agreed by representatives of 18 nations meeting in the Iranian town of Ramsar, and signed the following day.

January 1974
Australia becomes the first State to deposit an instrument of accession to the Convention.

December 1974
An International Conference on the Conservation of Wetlands and Waterfowl is held in Heiligenhafen, Germany, and adopts the first "Criteria to be used in identifying Wetlands of International Importance" as a recommendation; the conference was intended to be the first meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, but an insufficient number of countries had ratified the Convention to bring it into force in time.

December 1975
The Ramsar Convention comes into force four months after the seventh nation, Greece, deposits an instrument of accession. (The first six were Australia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, South Africa, and Iran.)

August 1979
Contracting Parties are invited to prepare the first National Reports on the implementation of the Convention in their territories, for presentation to the First Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties.

November 1980
First Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, Cagliari, Italy:

December 1982
A Protocol modifying the original text of the Ramsar Convention is adopted by an Extraordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties at the headquarters of UNESCO in Paris.

May 1984
Second Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, Groningen, Netherlands:

October 1986
Paris Protocol enters into force (after acceptance by two-thirds of Contracting Parties in 1982).

May-June 1987
Extraordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties adopts the Regina Amendments to Articles 6 and 7 of the Convention.

Third (ordinary) Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, Regina, Canada:

January 1988
The Ramsar Secretariat (called the "Bureau") is formally established as the Convention's permanent secretariat, with Mr Dan Navid (USA) as the first Secretary General.

The Ramsar Advisory Mission (then called the 'Monitoring Procedure', and later the 'Management Guidance Procedure') is established by the Ramsar Standing Committee at its fourth meeting in Costa Rica.

1989
Adoption of the first Ramsar logo (a soaring blue bird of unknown species, trailed by splashes of pastel blue and green)

January 1989
Viet Nam becomes 50th Contracting Party to the Convention.

August 1989
Ramsar publishes its first book, A Legal Analysis of the Adoption of the Implementation of the Convention in Denmark, by Veit Koester (in the IUCN Environmental Policy and Law Papers series).

July 1990
Fourth Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, Montreux, Switzerland:

December 1991
First Ramsar Regional Meeting (Asia) takes place, Karachi, Pakistan.

June 1993
Fifth Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, Kushiro, Japan:

June 1993
Publication of The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands: Its History and Development, by G.V.T. Matthews.

October 1993
Publication of Towards the Wise Use of Wetlands, the report of the Wise Use Project.

December 1993
Lithuania becomes 80th Contracting Party to the Convention.

January 1994
First meeting of the STRP takes place in association with the IUCN General Assembly in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

May 1994
Regina Amendments to Articles 6 and 7 of the Convention enter into force.

December 1994
Mr James McCuaig, seconded from Environment Canada, serves for six months as Interim Secretary General, replacing Mr Dan Navid.

August 1995
Mr Delmar Blasco (Argentina) becomes the Convention's second Secretary General.

January 1996
Memorandum of Cooperation signed between the secretariats of the Ramsar Convention and the Convention on Biological Diversity, the first of many memoranda between the Ramsar Secretariat and the secretariats of other Multilateral Environment Agreements (MEAs). In subsequent years, Joint Work Plans are developed to increase synergies between the two conventions.

February 1996
The Ramsar Convention's Web site is inaugurated.

March 1996
Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, Brisbane, Australia:

October 1996
The Standing Committee formally establishes 2 February as World Wetlands Day.

The Mediterranean Wetlands Committee (MedWet/Com) is established as the first regional arrangement under the Convention.

February 1997
Bahamas and Georgia both accede to the Convention on 7 February, becoming the 99th and 100th Contracting Parties.

2 February 1997
The first World Wetlands Day is celebrated in about 50 nations and becomes an annual event.

May 1997
The Ramsar Forum, a public e-mail discussion group for Ramsar-related issues, is established by the Secretariat.

The Ramsar Secretariat's Internship Programme begins with the arrival of the first group of four assistants to the Senior Regional Advisors (then called "Regional Coordinators").

Ramsar publishes The Economic Valuation of Wetlands in English, French, and Spanish.

October 1997
First three-year phase of the Wetlands for the Future initiative begins by agreement between the Ramsar Secretariat, the United States State Department, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service; later renewed.

December 1997
Wetlands, Biodiversity and the Ramsar Convention: the role of the Convention on Wetlands in the conservation and wise use of wetlands, edited by A.J. Hails, is published by the Ramsar Secretariat.

January 1998
The Evian Project, to assist communications and training activities under the Convention, is established by an agreement signed among the Ramsar Secretariat, the Groupe Danone from the private sector, the French GEF, and the Government of France.

October 1998
The Standing Committee adopts the new Ramsar logo (the word Ramsar on a blue-green background with two white lines suggesting waves).

May 1999
Seventh Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, San José, Costa Rica:

July 1999
Honduras designates the Sistema de Humedales de la Zona Sur de Honduras, the Convention's 1000th Ramsar Site.

September 1999
The Society of Wetland Scientists inaugurates its annual Ramsar Support Framework grants programme.

May 2000
The "Ramsar Toolkit" (the Ramsar Handbooks for the Wise Use of Wetlands) is published in nine booklets in a boxed set. A CD-ROM version is published by the United Nations University in September 2002.

February 2001
Inauguration of a joint Web site between Ramsar and UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme. A Programme of Joint Work is agreed between the two secretariats in March 2002.

November 2001
The MedWet Coordination Unit is opened in Athens, Greece, a 5-member outposted branch of the Ramsar Secretariat, headed by new MedWet Coordinator Spyros Kouvelis and funded by the Government of Greece.

June 2002
Surface area coverage of the world's Wetlands of International Importance surpasses 100 million hectares with the designation of Peru's Abanica del río Pastazo.

November 2002
Eighth Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, Valencia, Spain:

August 2003
Dr Peter Bridgewater (Australia) takes over as the Convention's third Secretary General, succeeding Delmar Blasco.

2.4 Further reading

Two Ramsar publications (§4.5.7) provide a detailed background to the Ramsar Convention's historical and legal development up to 1993:

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands: Its History and Development, by G.V.T. Matthews, 1993; and

The Legal Development of the Ramsar Convention, by C. de Klemm and I. Créteaux, 1993.

Additional background resources:

Clare Shine and Cyrille de Klemm, Wetlands, Water and the Law. Gland: IUCN and Bonn: IUCN Environmental Law Centre, 1999.

Michael Bowman, "The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands: Has it Made a Difference?", in Yearbook of International Co-operation on Environment and Development 2002/2003 (London: Earthscan), 61-8. [reprinted http://ramsar.org/key_law_bowman2.htm]

• a summary report of Plenary Sessions;
• the Resolutions and Recommendations adopted by the Conference;
• a list of the participants; and
• (beginning with COP8) the National Reports from the Parties; and
• other documentation provided to the COP for consideration or information.

• a valuable overview of national experiences;
• continuous monitoring of the implementation of the Convention;
• a means of sharing information relating to wetland conservation measures that have been taken, any problems that may have arisen, and appropriate solutions to such problems.

Ordinary meetings of the Conference of the Contracting Parties

1. Cagliari, Italy, 1980
2. Groningen, Netherlands, 1984
3. Regina, Canada, 1987
4. Montreux, Switzerland, 1990
5. Kushiro, Japan, 1993
6. Brisbane, Australia, 1996
7. San José, Costa Rica, 1999
8. Valencia, Spain, 2002
9. Kampala, Uganda (scheduled for 2005)

1. Paris, France, 1982
2. Regina, Canada, 1987

• To designate their delegates to the Standing Committee taking into account their significant responsibilities as Regional Representatives, according to paragraph 10 of this resolution, and to make every effort that their delegates or their substitutes attend all meetings of the Committee.
• When there is more than one Regional Representative in a regional group, to maintain regular contacts and consultations with the other regional representative(s).
• To maintain regular contacts and consultations with the Contracting Parties in their regional group, and to use the opportunities of travel within their regions and of attending regional or international meetings to consult about issues related to the Convention and to promote its objectives.
• To canvass the opinions of the Contracting Parties in their regional group before meetings of the Standing Committee.
• To advise the Secretariat in setting the agenda of regional meetings.
• To assume additional responsibilities by serving as members of the subgroups established by the Standing Committee.
• To provide advice as requested by the Chairperson and/or the chairs of subgroups and/or the Secretariat of the Convention.
• In the regions concerned, to make deliberate efforts to encourage other countries to join the Convention."

a) one representative for regional groups with 1 to 12 Contracting Parties,
b) two representatives for regional groups with 13 to 24 Contracting Parties,
c) three representatives for regional groups with 25 to 36 Contracting Parties,
d) four representatives for regional groups with 37 to 48 Contracting Parties,
e) five representatives for regional groups with 49 to 60 Contracting Parties.

Africa: Botswana, Ghana, Morocco
Asia: Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan
Europe: Armenia, Austria, Romania, Slovenia
Neotropics: Argentina, Nicaragua. (Bahamas will join as soon as the Convention comes into force for the 25th Party from this region.)
North America: Canada
Oceania: Papua New Guinea
COP8 host: Spain
COP9 host: Uganda
Permanent observers: Netherlands, Switzerland, BirdLife International, IUCN-The World Conservation Union, Wetlands International, WWF International.

• provide administrative, scientific, and technical support to Contracting Parties, especially in relation to the implementation of the Ramsar Strategic Plan;
• assist in recruiting new Contracting Parties;
• assist in convening and organizing the Conference of the Parties, the meetings of the Standing Committee and the STRP, and Ramsar regional meetings;
• make known the decisions, Resolutions, and Recommendations of the Conference and the Standing Committee;
• provide secretariat functions for the Scientific and Technical Review Panel (in collaboration with Wetlands International's newly-formed STRP Support Service;
• secure financial contributions for the Small Grants Fund (§4.4.6), circulate an annual call for applications, and evaluate the project proposals received from Contracting Parties, and evaluate proposals received for the Wetlands for the Future assistance programme;
• administer projects funded with earmarked contributions;
• keep the Contracting Parties, and the Ramsar community in general, informed of developments related to the Convention;
• maintain the List of Wetlands of International Importance (§4.1) and note any additions and changes to the List and the Ramsar Sites Database (day-to-day development of the Database is subcontracted to Wetlands International);
• organize Ramsar Advisory Missions at the request of Contracting Parties (§4.1.6) and contribute to follow-up of RAM reports;
• develop avenues of cooperation with other conventions, intergovernmental institutions, and national and international NGOs.

• functioning of the Convention Secretariat (see list of activities in §3.3);
• some of the costs of the meetings of the Standing Committee and STRP, including the cost of participation of members from developing countries and countries with economies in transition;
• a contribution for the management of the Ramsar Sites Database and for the STRP Support Service (both provided by Wetlands International);
• a contribution to IUCN for costs incurred in hosting the Secretariat offices;
• a contribution towards the Secretariat costs related to the meetings of the COP; and
• a contribution to support regional initiatives under the Convention.

• Africa
• Asia
• Europe
• Neotropics (South and Central America and the Caribbean area)
• North America (Canada, Mexico, and the United States)
• Oceania