Background

Wetlands are amongst the most productive life-support systems on earth, and their conservation is important for biological, hydrological and economic reasons. They provide essential habitat for hundreds of species of waterfowl, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and plants. They act as natural sponges which control floods and droughts. A sub-tropical saltmarsh may produce organic material at more than twice the rate of the most fertile hayfield, and two thirds of the commercially important fish and shellfish harvested along the U.S. Atlantic seaboard – and 98% of those harvested in the Gulf of Mexico – depend on estuaries and associated wetlands for food, spawning grounds and nurseries for their fry. In spite of tKeir valuable functions, wetlands in many parts of the world have been destroyed at an alarming rate in recent decades by drainage, land reclamation and pollution.

A series of international conferences and technical meetings were held in the 1960s, mainly under the auspices of the International Waterfowl Research Bureau (“IWRB”), in an effort to stem this tide of destruction. As a result of these discussions, the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat was drawn up and was eventually signed on 2 February 1971 in the Iranian town of Ramsar (hence the name “Ramsar” by which the Convention is commonly known and hereinafter referred to). Ramsar came into force on 21 December 1975.