countries, namely Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Italy, and Romania, also attended the convention. In addition, delegates from various intergovernmental agencies (like FAO and UNESCO) and nongovernmental organizations (like CIC, IBP, ICBP, IUCN, IWRB, and WWF) were also among those who attended the convention (Matthews 1993; Ramsar Convention Secretariat 2011).
The treaty was agreed on 2 February 1971 and signed by the representatives of 18 nations on 3 February 1971. As per terms laid down in convention, the Ramsar Convention would come into force only after being ratified by at least seven countries, which was fulfilled in December 1975 upon ratification by Greece (Matthews 1993). In the subsequent years, as the concerns about wetland conservation gained momentum, more nations joined the Ramsar Convention. As of October 2019, there are 171 members of the Ramsar Convention with a global count of 2390 Ramsar sites spread over an area of more than 2.5 million km2 (Ramsar Sites Information System 2020). The goal of Ramsar Convention emphasizes that “the loss of wetlands, any further, would be irreparable,” to people, and aims to “stem the loss and degradation of wetlands now and in the future,” through the wise‐use of all wetlands; designation and management of Wetlands of International Importance (“Ramsar Sites”) and international cooperation (Davidson 2014).
2.3 The Convention Text
The original official text of the Ramsar Convention, agreed upon and adopted by the contracting parties of the convention, was signed on 2 February 1971. Since its adoption, the convention has undergone modification on two occasions, first by the Paris Protocol and later by Regina Amendments. Paris protocol was adopted during an Extraordinary Conference of Parties (COP) held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris in December 1982 and came into force in 1986. The Paris Protocol is known for recognizing the need for and adopting a procedure for amending the convention. The protocol added Article 10bis which lays down the process to bring amendments to the convention. The Regina Amendments were a series of amendments to Articles 6 and 7 that were accepted at an Extraordinary Conference of the Contracting Parties held in Regina, Canada, on 28 May 1987 (Matthews 1993). These amendments did not alter the fundamental structure and guiding principles of the convention, rather these were related to the convention’s operation. They defined the powers of the Conference of the Parties, established an intersessional Standing Committee, established a permanent secretariat, and set up a budget for the Convention. Regina amendments came into force in May 1994. The treaty’s current text has been subdivided into 13 articles (i.e. articles 1–10, article 10bis, and articles 11 and 12).
2.4 Wetland Definition and Classification
The term “wetland” represents a host of ecosystems inundated by water for a certain period of the year and possessing characteristics unique to wetland ecosystems. While there have been many definitions proposed by many scientists/researchers but the most versatile and widely accepted definition has been given by the Ramsar Convention which has taken care of every aspect of the wetlands. Article 1.1 of the Ramsar convention defines wetlands as “the 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 6 m.” Article 2.1 further states that “the riparian and coastal zone adjacent to the wetlands and islands or bodies of marine water deeper than six meters at low tide” may also be considered as wetlands. The typology of wetland accepted by the Ramsar Convention (which also accompanies the Ramsar definition) incorporates the three attributes to describe 42 different types of habitats across coastal/marine and inland environments (Table 2.1). These typologies also include streams, rivers, caves, coral reefs, alpine meadows, springs, dams, wastewater treatment areas as well as the more traditionally considered marshes and swamps (Ramsar Convention Secretariat 2011).
Table 2.1 Ramsar classification system for wetland types.
| Marine/Coastal Wetlands | |
| A | Permanent shallow marine waters; in most cases, less than 6 m deep at low tide; includes sea bays and straits |
| B | Marine subtidal aquatic beds; includes kelp beds, sea‐grass beds, and tropical marine meadows |
| C | Coral reefs |
| D | Rocky marine shores; includes rocky offshore islands and sea cliffs |
| E | Sand, shingle, or pebble shores; includes sand bars, spits, and sandy islets; includes dune systems and humid dune slacks |
| F | Estuarine waters; permanent water of estuaries and estuarine systems of deltas |
| G | Intertidal mud, sand, or salt flats |
| H | Intertidal marshes; includes salt marshes, salt meadows, saltings, raised salt marshes; includes tidal brackish and freshwater marshes |
| I | Intertidal forested wetlands; includes mangrove swamps, Nipah swamps and tidal freshwater swamp forests |
| J | Coastal brackish/saline lagoons; brackish to saline lagoons with at least one relatively narrow connection to the sea |
| K | Coastal freshwater lagoons; includes freshwater delta lagoons |
| Zk (a) | Karst and other subterranean hydrological systems, marine/coastal |
| Inland Wetlands | |
| L | Permanent inland deltas |
| M | Permanent rivers/streams/creeks; includes waterfalls |
| N | Seasonal/intermittent/irregular rivers/streams/creeks |
| O | Permanent freshwater lakes (over 8 ha); includes large oxbow lakes |
| P | Seasonal/intermittent freshwater lakes (over 8 ha); includes floodplain lakes |
| Q | Permanent saline/brackish/alkaline lakes |
| R | Seasonal/intermittent saline/brackish/alkaline lakes and flats |
| Sp | Permanent saline/brackish/alkaline marshes/pools |
| Ss | Seasonal/intermittent saline/brackish/alkaline marshes/pools |
| Tp | Permanent freshwater marshes/pools; ponds (below 8 ha), marshes, and swamps on inorganic soils; with emergent vegetation water‐logged for at least most of the growing season |
| Ts | Seasonal/intermittent freshwater marshes/pools on inorganic soils; includes sloughs, potholes, seasonally flooded meadows, and sedge marshes |
| U | Non‐forested peatlands; includes shrub or open bogs, swamps, and fens |
|
| |
