Photo by Aboutaleb Nadri, Mehr News Agency,
Gorgan, Iran
February 2 is World Wetlands
Day: There are people all over the world working for wetlands. On World
Wetlands Day, celebrated on February 2 each year, these people collectively
stand up and proclaim the benefits of wetlands.
The internationally-protected Ajigol Lagoon in Golestan province in northern
Iran is home to migratory birds. The Ajigol Lagoon and the nearby Almagol and
Alagol lagoons were designated as a wetland of international importance under
the Ramsar Convention in 1975.
Source:
Report on Ramsar Advisory Mission No. 60
Alagol, Ulmagol, Ajigol, Ramsar site 49
Islamic Republic of Iran, 14-16 May 2009
The Ramsar Convention
Source: www.ramsar.org
The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, called the Ramsar
Convention, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for
national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use
of wetlands and their resources.
Negotiated through the 1960s by countries and non-governmental organizations
that were concerned at the increasing loss and degradation of wetland habitat
for migratory waterbirds, the treaty was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar
in 1971 and came into force in 1975. It is the only global environmental treaty
that deals with a particular ecosystem, and the Convention's member countries
cover all geographic regions of the planet.
The Ramsar Mission
The Convention's mission is "the conservation and wise use of all wetlands
through local and national actions and international cooperation, as a
contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world".
The Convention uses a broad definition of the types of wetlands covered in
its mission, including lakes and rivers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands
and peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, near-shore marine
areas, mangroves and coral reefs, and human-made sites such as fish ponds,
rice paddies, reservoirs, and salt pans.
About the Ramsar Convention
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.
Learn more about the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands - what it is now; where it
came from, and why; how it works; what countries are members, and why they
joined: www.ramsar.org
... Payvand News - 02/02/10 ... --
