Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

The Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971) -- called the "Ramsar Convention" -- is an intergovernmental treaty that embodies the commitments of its member countries to maintain the ecological character of their Wetlands of International Importance and to plan for the "wise use", or sustainable use, of all of the wetlands in their territories. Unlike the other global environmental conventions, Ramsar is not affiliated with the United Nations system of Multilateral Environmental Agreements, but it works very closely with the other MEAs and is a full partner among the "biodiversity-related cluster" of treaties and agreements. Economic, industrial and energy developments are leading to accelerating global demand for extracted resources, including non-renewable resources such as oil and gas, precious and base minerals, coal, sand and gravel, industrial minerals and peat. Artisanal, small- and large-scale extraction projects all have the potential, if not well-managed, to impact wetlands and wetland ecosystem services. Wetlands may be particularly vulnerable because many extractive industries use water-intensive processes, which affect the availability of water for sustaining wetlands, and may also generate toxic waste that can contaminate surface and underground water bodies in and around wetlands. Ramsar is also addressing climate impacts on wetlands.