Ramsar Convention

 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.

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.

The Convention entered into force in 1975 and as of January 2016 had 169 Contracting Parties, or member States, in all parts of the world.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) serves as Depositary1 for the Convention, but the Ramsar Convention is not part of the United Nations and UNESCO system of environmental 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 under contract by IUCN–the International Union for Conservation of Nature in Gland, Switzerland.

Under the text of the Convention (Article 1.1), wetlands are defined as: “areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres”.

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: “may incorporate riparian and coastal zones adjacent to the wetlands, and islands or bodies of marine water deeper than six metres at low tide lying within the wetlands”. 

Five major wetland types are generally recognized: 

1. Marine (coastal wetlands including coastal lagoons, rocky shores, seagrass beds and coral reefs); 
2. Estuarine (including deltas, tidal marshes and mudflats, and mangrove swamps); 
3. Lacustrine (wetlands associated with lakes); 
4. Riverine (wetlands along rivers and streams); 
5. Palustrine (meaning “marshy” – marshes, swamps and bogs). 

The Montreux Record 

The Montreux Record was established by Recommendation 4.8 of the Conference of the Contracting Parties (1990).

The Montreux Record is a register of wetland sites on the List of Wetlands of International Importance where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a result of technological developments, pollution or other human interference. It is maintained as part of the Ramsar List.

India and Ramsar Convention:

India ratified the Ramsar Convention in 1982. Keoladeo National Park (in Rajasthan) and Chilika (in Odisha) were the first two sites to be placed on the Ramsar List by the Government of India. Till 1990, only four more sites were added to the list, and another 20 over the following two decades. Since 2014, Ramsar Site designation has received a significant policy push from the MoEFCC, and 49 wetlands have been added to the list. The network of Indian Ramsar Sites currently covers 1.33 million ha, which is approximately 8% of the known wetland extent of the country.

An Introduction to the Convention on Wetlands (previously The Ramsar ConventionManual). Ramsar Convention Secretariat, Gland, Switzerland

Year End Review: Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change - PIB

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