Ramsar site

A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, also known as "The Convention on Wetlands", an international environmental treaty signed on 2 February 1971 in Ramsar, Iran, under the auspices of UNESCO. It came into force on 21 December 1975, when it was ratified by a sufficient number of nations. It provides for national action and international cooperation regarding the conservation of wetlands, and wise sustainable use of their resources. Ramsar identifies wetlands of international importance, especially those providing waterfowl habitat. As of May 2023, there are 2,491 Ramsar sites around the world, protecting , and 171 national governments are participating. List of Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance The non-profit organisation Wetlands International provides access to the Ramsar database via the Ramsar Sites Information Service. A wetland can be considered internationally important if any of the following nine criteria apply: Criterion 1: "it contains a representative, rare, or unique example of a natural or near-natural wetland type found within the appropriate biogeographic region." Criterion 2: "it supports vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered species or threatened ecological communities." Criterion 3: "it supports populations of plant and/or animal species important for maintaining the biological diversity of a particular biogeographic region." Criterion 4: "it supports plant and/or animal species at a critical stage in their life cycles, or provides refuge during adverse conditions." Criterion 5: "it regularly supports 20,000 or more waterbirds." Criterion 6: "it regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of waterbird." Criterion 7: "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.