The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

In one line

Twelve articles, signed at an Iranian town on the Caspian in 1971, and it is the oldest of the modern conservation treaties and the shortest instrument in this book.

In exam wording: the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat was signed at Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971 and entered into force on 21 December 1975; each Contracting Party must designate at least one wetland for inclusion in the List of Wetlands of International Importance, must formulate and implement its planning so as to promote the conservation of listed wetlands and as far as possible the wise use of wetlands in its territory, and must promote the conservation of wetlands and waterfowl by establishing nature reserves.

Why MU sets it

She sets it as a short note on two of the seven printed papers. It is short, it is self-contained, and it is one of the few instruments a student can genuinely know in full.

Article 1: what a wetland is

Paragraph 1. For the purpose of this Convention wetlands are areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres.

That definition is unusually wide, and every element of its width is deliberate: natural or artificial, so a reservoir counts; permanent or temporary, so a seasonal marsh counts; static or flowing, so a river counts; fresh, brackish or salt, so an estuary and a lagoon count; and the six-metre marine limit brings in coral reefs, seagrass beds and mudflats.

Paragraph 2 defines waterfowl as birds ecologically dependent on wetlands.

Article 2, paragraph 1, adds that a listed wetland may incorporate riparian and coastal zones adjacent to it, and islands or bodies of marine water deeper than six metres lying within it.

Article 2: the List

Paragraph 1. Each Contracting Party shall designate suitable wetlands within its territory for inclusion in a List of Wetlands of International Importance, maintained by the bureau established under article 8.

Paragraph 2. Wetlands should be selected for the List on account of their international significance in terms of ecology, botany, zoology, limnology or hydrology, and in the first instance wetlands of international importance to waterfowl at any season should be included.

Paragraph 3. The inclusion of a wetland in the List does not prejudice the exclusive sovereign rights of the Party in whose territory it is situated.

Paragraph 4. Each Party shall designate at least one wetland for the List when signing or depositing its instrument.

Paragraph 5. Any Party has the right to add wetlands, to extend the boundaries of those already included, or, because of its urgent national interests, to delete or restrict the boundaries of wetlands already included, informing the bureau at the earliest possible time.