Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance was the first modern inter-governmental treaty between nations aiming to conserve natural resources. The signing of the Convention on Wetlands took place during 1971 in the small Iranian town of Ramsar. Since then, the Convention on Wetlands has taken the common name of the Ramsar Convention.

Ramsar Convention

The Ramsar Convention's broad aims are to halt the worldwide loss of wetlands and to conserve, through wise use and management, those that remain. This requires international cooperation, policy making, capacity building and technology transfer.

Australian Ramsar management principles

What are Ramsar wetlands?

Under the Ramsar Convention a wide variety of natural and human-made habitat types, ranging from rivers to coral reefs, can be classified as wetlands. Wetlands include swamps, marshes, billabongs, lakes, salt marshes, mudflats, mangroves, coral reefs, fens, peat bogs, or bodies of water - whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary. Water within these areas can be static or flowing; fresh, brackish or saline; and can include inland rivers and coastal or marine water to a depth of six meters at low tide. There are even underground wetlands.

Ramsar Classification System for Wetland Type

The Ramsar Convention encourages the designation of sites containing representative, rare or unique wetlands, or wetlands that are important for conserving biological diversity. Once designated these sites are added to the Convention's List of Wetlands of International Importance and become known as Ramsar sites. In designating a wetland as a Ramsar site, countries agree to manage it to ensure that its ecological character is maintained over time. Wetlands can be included on the List of Wetlands of International Importance because of their ecological, botanical, zoological, limnological or hydrological importance.

For a wetland to be designated to this list it must satisfy one or more of the following criteria:

Criteria for Identifying Wetlands of International Importance

Australia's Ramsar Wetlands

Australia was one of the first countries to sign the Ramsar Convention, and Australia designated the world's first Wetland of International Importance: Cobourg Peninsula Aboriginal Land and Wildlife Sanctuary in the Northern Territory, in 1974. Australia currently has 65 Wetlands of International Importance listed under the Ramsar Convention covering approximately 7.5 million hectares.

Ramsar wetlands in Australia

Australia's Newest Ramsar Site

On 20 September 2007 Australia listed its 65th Wetland of International Importance - the Paroo River Wetlands Ramsar Site in north-western New South Wales. Further information on the new Ramsar site is included below:

Paroo River wetlands fact sheet and map

The Ramsar Information Sheet will be available through the Australian Wetlands Database and the Ramsar Convention database in due course. In the interim, if you require a copy of the Ramsar Information Sheet for this site please contact the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts via wetlandsmail@environment.gov.au.

Contracting Parties to the Convention

Australia was one of the first nations to become a Contracting Party to the Ramsar Convention. There are now more than 150 Contracting Parties to the Convention who have designated more than 1650 wetland sites throughout the world to the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

Contracting Parties make a commitment to:

designate at least one site that meets the Ramsar criteria for inclusion in the List of Wetlands of International Importance
protect the ecological character of listed sites
include wetland conservation within their national land-use planning
establish nature reserves on wetlands and promote wetland training
consult with other Contracting Parties about the implementation of the Ramsar Convention.

Conferences of Contracting Parties

The Contracting Parties meet every three years at Conferences of Contracting Parties (COP) to discuss policy issues and to report on the activities of the previous triennium through National Reports.

The most recent Conferences of Contracting Parties (COP9) was held in Uganda in 2005. Australia's report to COP9 includes information provided by Australian, state and territory governments and from non-government organisations with an interest in wetlands.

Australia's COP reports

National guidelines for Ramsar wetlands - Implementing the Ramsar Convention in Australia

Ramsar Snapshot Study

The Ramsar Snapshot Study was commissioned by the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts to provide a preliminary review of the current status and management of all Australian Ramsar sites. The report identifies a number of administrative, information and reporting gaps and makes a number of recommendations to assist Australia in meeting its obligations under the Ramsar Convention.