Ramsar Sites
Part 1
What is a Ramsar Site
- A Ramsar site is a wetland declared as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, which is also known as the ‘Convention on Wetlands’.
- Ramsar Convention is an intergovernmental environmental treaty established by UNESCO in 1971.
- It is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the convention was signed that year.
- There are over 2,400 Ramsar Sites on the territories of 172 Convention Contracting Parties across the world, covering more than 2.5 million square kilometres.
Criteria for selection:
Criterion 1:
- A wetland should be considered internationally important if it contains a representative, rare, or unique example of a natural or near-natural wetland type found within the appropriate biogeographic region.
Criterion 2:
- A wetland should be considered internationally important if it supports vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered species or threatened ecological communities
Criterion 3:
- A wetland should be considered internationally important if it supports populations of plant and/or animal species important for maintaining the biological diversity of a particular biogeographic region.
Criterion 4:
- A wetland should be considered internationally important if it supports plant and/or animal species at a critical stage in their life cycles, or provides refuge during adverse conditions.
Criterion 5:
- A wetland should be considered internationally important if it regularly supports 20,000 or more waterbirds.
Criterion 6:
- A wetland should be considered internationally important if it regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of waterbird.
Criterion 7:
- A wetland should be considered internationally important if it 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.
Criterion 8:
- A wetland should be considered internationally important if it is an important source of food for fishes, spawning ground, nursery and/or migration path on which fish stocks, either within the wetland or elsewhere, depend.
Criterion 9:
- A wetland should be considered internationally important if it regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of wetland-dependent non avian animal species.
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