What happened on World Wetlands Day?

This year's focus on responsible wetland tourism

Wetlands and their wildlife are a key part of the global tourism experience: from visiting the underground karst wetlands in Slovenia’s Skocjan caves, to experiencing the breath-taking sunsets at the Port Launay Ramsar Site in the Seychelles, the world’s Ramsar Sites and other wetlands have much to offer the adventurous tourist.

With half of international tourists traveling to wetlands of all types, but particularly in coastal areas, the tourism expenditure linked to wetlands can be quite significant. Globally, the economic activity generated by travel and tourism represents around 5% of GDP and an estimated 6-7% of the world’s jobs. But of course poorly managed tourism can have negative impacts on wetland resources and local livelihoods.

As Ramsar’s Secretary General, Anada Tiéga, stresses that this year’s theme is the “opportunity to focus on key stakeholders who can help to ensure that tourism in wetlands is sustainable and that any tourism development in and around wetlands in the future is carried out following Ramsar’s principles of wise use.”

» Read SG message.

Ramsar and UNWTO: A Partnership

On World Wetlands Day, February 2, 2010, the Ramsar Secretariat and UNWTO formalised their relationship and signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to ensure well-managed tourism practices in and around wetlands and educating tourists on the value of wetlands.

Ramsar and UNWTO’s partnership is thus important for World Wetlands Day 2012 messaging, to promote responsible tourism for wetlands. »Read our joint press release

Ramsar and Ducks Unlimited: Signing of a new MOC on World Wetlands Day

The MOC signing event was attended by approximately 100 people and took place prior to the start of DU's 75th anniversary kickoff event. Dale Hall, CEO of Ducks Unlimited, and Anada Tiéga, Secretary General for the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, presented and signed the MOC. Read the full article here.

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, called the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

The Ramsar Convention is the only global environmental treaty that deals with a particular ecosystem. The treaty was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and the Convention's member countries cover all geographic regions of the planet.

The Ramsar mission

The Convention's mission is "the conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world".

The Convention uses a broad definition of the types of wetlands covered in its mission, including lakes and rivers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands and peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, near-shore marine areas, mangroves and coral reefs, and human-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs, and salt pans.

The Wise Use concept

At the centre of the Ramsar philosophy is the “wise use” concept. The wise use of wetlands is defined as "the maintenance of their ecological character, achieved through the implementation of ecosystem approaches, within the context of sustainable development". "Wise use" therefore has at its heart the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands and their resources, for the benefit of humankind.

Ramsar Sites Info

Wetlands connect us all

The Convention today

Number of » Contracting Parties: 160 Sites designated for the
» List of Wetlands of
International Importance: 1,995 Total surface area of designated sites (hectares): 192,084,766

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Renovation of the Ramsar Web site has been supported by the Danone Group.