The Ramsar Convention
on Wetlands

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Convention sur les zones humides

photo credit


The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. There are presently 158 Contracting Parties to the Convention, with 1743 wetland sites, totaling 161 million hectares, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

Mission Statement: "The Convention's mission 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" (Ramsar COP8, 2002).

What's New?What's New @ Ramsar?

Key DocumentsKey Documents

About RamsarAbout Ramsar

Ramsar COP10Ramsar COP10, 2008

The Ramsar Convention Secretariat
Rue Mauverney 28
CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland
tel. +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169
E-mail:

World Wetlands Day 2008 -- "Healthy Wetlands, Healthy People"


"Status of the Convention"
Number of Contracting Parties: 158
Number of sites designated for the List of Wetlands of International Importance: 1743
Total surface area of designated sites: 161,177,358 hectares

World Wetlands Day World Wetlands Day

Ramsar ListThe Ramsar List
National Focal PointsRamsar Focal PointsRamsar SecretariatRamsar Secretariat
Ramsar AnnouncementsAnnouncements Ramsar CEPA ProgrammeCEPA Programme
Ramsar Wetland Conservation AwardRamsar Wetlands Award Ramsar LibraryThe Ramsar Library
Ramsar meetingsRamsar meetings Ramsar Photo GalleryRamsar Photo Gallery
Ramsar LinksRamsar Links Ramsar ArchivesRamsar Web Archives
Partnerships and MOUsRamsar PartnershipsRamsar HandbooksHandbooks for Wise Use

Special subjectsSpecial subjects & features

 MedWet/ComMedWet/Com
Private Sector partnerships
evian2.jpg (2371 bytes) Danone Evian Initiative Star Alliance Network
IndexGlobal Index - an extensive index to the contents of this siteWetlands InternationalThe Ramsar Sites Information Service at Wetlands International
menuRamsar à la carte - a quick index to the major subject areas The STRP Support Service
searchRamsar Search - a search engine to find names and keywordscall me!The Ramsar Forum, e-mail discussion/news group

World of Wetlands© 1996 - 2008 Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971). This is the official Web site of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and is maintained by the treaty secretariat. Material from the Ramsar pages may be reproduced freely for educational, journalistic, and other non-commercial purposes. For commercial uses of Ramsar material or logos, please contact the Ramsar Secretariat. About this Web site.

turnbook.gif (1625 bytes)A note on languages: The official working languages of the Ramsar Convention are English, French, and Spanish.  The architecture of this Web site is constructed in the English language, but many of the files and all of the important documents are also available in French and Spanish versions. turnbook.gif (1625 bytes)Nota con respecto a los idiomas: Los idiomas de trabajo oficiales de la Convención de Ramsar son el inglés, el francés y el español, pero el idioma de esta página web es el inglés. Sin embargo,  muchos de los archivos y todos los documentos importantes se encuentran disponibles también en francés y en español. turnbook.gif (1625 bytes)Note concernant la langue: Les langues de travail officielles de la Convention de Ramsar sont l'anglais, le français et l'espagnol. Le site Web de la Convention a été élaboré en anglais, mais un grand nombre de fichiers et tous les documents importants sont aussi disponibles en version française et espagnole.

The photo at the top of this page is of the Lake Uluabat Ramsar site, near Bursa, Turkey, January 2008 (Photo by Cem Sarpel). Past photos from the Ramsar front page can be seen here.