The Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty adopted on 2 February 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea. Thus, though nowadays the name of the Convention is usually written "Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971)", it has come to be known popularly as the "Ramsar Convention". Ramsar is the first of the modern global intergovernmental treaties on conservation and wise use of natural resources, but, compared with more recent ones, its provisions are relatively straightforward and general. Over the years, the Conference of the Contracting Parties (the main decision-making body of the Convention, composed of delegates from all the Member States) has further developed and interpreted the basic tenets of the treaty text and succeeded in keeping the work of the Convention abreast of changing world perceptions, priorities, and trends in environmental thinking.

The official name of the treaty – The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat – reflects its original emphasis on the conservation and wise use of wetlands primarily to provide habitat for waterbirds. Over the years, however, the Convention has broadened its scope to cover all aspects of wetland conservation and wise use, recognizing wetlands as ecosystems that are extremely important for biodiversity conservation in general and for the well-being of human communities. For this reason, the increasingly common use of the short form of the treaty’s title, the "Convention on Wetlands", is entirely appropriate.

The Convention entered into force in 1975 and as of 1 May 2003 has 136 Contracting Parties. More than 1280 wetlands have been designated for inclusion in the List of Wetlands of International Importance, covering some 108.7 million hectares (1.87 million km2), more than the surface area of France, Germany, and Switzerland combined.

UNESCO serves as Depositary for the Convention, but its administration has been entrusted to a secretariat known as the "Ramsar Bureau", which is housed in the headquarters of IUCN–The World Conservation Union in Gland, Switzerland, under the authority of the Conference of the Parties and the Standing Committee of the Convention.

There are presently 153 Contracting Parties to the Convention, with 1630 wetland sites, totaling 145.6 million hectares, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

For further information, please visit:
www.ramsar.org