A Ramsar site is a

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

site designated to be of international importance under the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It i ...

,Ramsar.org homepage
Accessed 03.10.2016. also known as "The Convention on Wetlands", an intergovernmental environmental treaty established in 1971 by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

, which came into force in 1975. It provides for national action and international cooperation regarding the

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

of wetlands, and wise sustainable use of their resources. Ramsar identifies wetlands of international importance, especially those providing

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

. As of August 2022, there are 2,453 Ramsar sites around the world, protecting , and 171 national governments are participating.

Site listings

Ramsar sites are recorded on the

List of Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance This is the list of Wetlands of International Importance as defined by the Ramsar Convention for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientif ...

. The non-profit organisation

Wetlands International Wetlands International is a global organisation that works to sustain and restore wetlands and their resources for people and biodiversity. It is an independent, not-for-profit, global organisation, supported by government and NGO membership from ...

provides access to the Ramsar database via the Ramsar Sites Information Service.

Ramsar site criteria

A wetland can be considered internationally important if any of the following nine criteria apply: * Criterion 1: "it contains a representative, rare, or unique example of a natural or near-natural wetland type found within the appropriate biogeographic region." * Criterion 2: "it supports vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered species or threatened ecological communities." * Criterion 3: "it supports populations of plant and/or animal species important for maintaining the biological diversity of a particular biogeographic region." * Criterion 4: "it supports plant and/or animal species at a critical stage in their life cycles, or provides refuge during adverse conditions." * Criterion 5: "it regularly supports 20,000 or more waterbirds." * Criterion 6: "it regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of waterbird." * Criterion 7: "it supports a significant proportion of indigenous fish subspecies, species or families, life-history stages, species interactions and/or populations that are representative of wetland benefits and/or values and thereby contributes to global biological diversity." * Criterion 8: "it is an important source of food for fishes, spawning ground, nursery and/or migration path on which fish stocks, either within the wetland or elsewhere, depend." * Criterion 9: "it regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of wetland-dependent non-avian animal species."

Classification

The Ramsar Classification System for Wetland Type is a

wetland classification Classification of wetlands has been a problematical task, with the commonly accepted definition of what constitutes a wetland being among the major difficulties. A number of national wetland classifications exist. In the 1970s, the Ramsar Conventio ...

developed within the Ramsar Convention intended as a means for fast identification of the main types of wetlands for the purposes of the Convention."Ramsar Classification System for Wetland Type", Annex I of the Information sheet
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Marine/coastal wetlands

Saline water Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish water, ...

: ** Permanent: *** (A) Permanent shallow marine waters: Less than 6m deep at

low tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables can ...

; including sea

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

s and

strait A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean channe ...

s *** (B) Marine subtidal aquatic beds: Underwater vegetation; including

kelp bed Kelp forests are underwater areas with a high density of kelp, which covers a large part of the world's coastlines. Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called kelp beds. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Ea ...

s and

sea grass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the orde ...

beds, and tropical marine meadows *** (C)

Coral reefs A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of Colony (biology), colonies of coral polyp (zoology), polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, wh ...

Shore A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...

s: *** (D) Rocky marine shores *** (E) Sand, shingle or pebble shores * Saline or

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estua ...

: **

Intertidal The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of Marine habitat, habitats with var ...

: *** (G) Intertidal mud, sand or salt flats *** (H) Intertidal marshes *** (I) Intertidal forested wetlands ** Lagoons: *** (J) Coastal brackish/saline

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

s **

Estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

waters: *** (F)

waters * Saline,

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

, or

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

: ** Subterranean: *** (Zk(a)) Karst and other

Subterranean Subterranean(s) or The Subterranean(s) may refer to: * Subterranea (geography), underground structures, both natural and man-made Literature * ''Subterranean'' (novel), a 1998 novel by James Rollins * ''Subterranean Magazine'', an American fa ...

hydrological systems * Fresh water: ** Lagoons: *** (K) Coastal freshwater

Inland wetlands

* Fresh water: ** Flowing water: *** Permanent: **** Permanent inland

river delta A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition (geology), deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, res ...

s (L) **** Permanent

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

s/ creeks/

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

s (M) ***** Freshwater springs,

oases In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

(Y) *** Seasonal/intermittent rivers/creeks/streams (N) **

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s/ pools: *** Permanent >8 ha (O) *** Permanent < 8 ha(Tp) *** Seasonal / Intermittent > 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

Marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

es on

inorganic soil In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as '' inorganic chemis ...

s: *** Permanent (herb dominated) (Tp) *** Permanent / Seasonal / Intermittent (shrub dominated)(W) *** Permanent / Seasonal / Intermittent (tree dominated) (Xf) *** Seasonal/intermittent (herb dominated) (Ts) ** Marshes on

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

soils: *** Permanent (non-forested)(U) *** Permanent (forested)(Xp) ** Marshes on inorganic or peat soils: *** Marshes on inorganic or peat soils / High altitude (alpine) (Va) *** Marshes on inorganic or peat soils / Tundra (Vt) * Saline,

alkaline In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a base (chemistry), basic, ionic compound, ionic salt (chemistry), salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as ...

waters: **

s *** Permanent (Q) *** Seasonal/intermittent (R) ** Marshes/pools *** Permanent (Sp) *** Seasonal/intermittent (Ss) * Fresh, saline,

waters: ** Geothermal (Zg) ** Subterranean (Zk(b))

Human-made wetlands

* (1):

Aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from th ...

s * (2): Ponds (farm and stock ponds, small

stock tank A stock tank is used to provide drinking water for animals such as cattle or horses. Stock tanks can range in size from 100 liters to over 5500 liters (30 to 1500 gallons) and typically are made of galvanized steel. These tanks are filled either ...

s, or area less than 8 ha) * (3): Irrigated land * (4): Seasonally flooded agricultural land * (5): Salt exploitation sites * (6): Water Storage areas/Reservoirs * (7): Excavations * (8): Wastewater treatment areas * (9): Canals and drainage channels or ditches * (Zk(c)): human-made

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

and other subterranean hydrological systems

References

External links

Ramsar Sites Information Service.org: Official List of all Ramsar Sites website
��via Ramsar Sites Information Service
Ramsar Sites Information Service.org
��images of Ramsar sites
Ramsar.org: Ramsar Convention website
{{aquatic ecosystem topics, state=collapsed 1975 in the environment Protected areas established in 1975 Protected areas Sites Wetland conservation Wetlands Wildlife conservation