A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, also known as "The Convention on Wetlands", an international environmental treaty signed on 2 February 1971 in Ramsar, Iran, under the auspices of UNESCO. It came into force on 21 December 1975, when it was ratified by a sufficient number of nations. It provides for national action and international cooperation regarding the conservation of wetlands, and wise sustainable use of their resources. Ramsar treaty participants meet regularly to identify and agree to protect "Wetlands of International Importance", especially those providing waterfowl habitat.
The Quill Lakes are a wetland complex in Saskatchewan, Canada that encompasses the endorheic basin of three distinct lake wetlands: Big Quill Lake, Middle Quill Lake, and Little Quill Lake. On May 27, 1987, it was designated a wetland of international importance via the Ramsar Convention. It was the first Canadian site in the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, is a site in the International Biological Programme and Saskatchewan Heritage Marsh Program, and was designated a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network site of International significance in May, 1994. The site is an important staging and breeding area for spring and fall migration of shorebirds. The site qualifies as an Important Bird Area (IBA) of Canada for its globally and nationally significant migratory and breeding populations of more than a dozen species of birds. The IBA is designated as Quill Lakes .
The Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area is a Canadian river delta wetland and Wildlife Management Area near Creston in south-central British Columbia, on the floodplain of the Kootenay River at the south end of Kootenay Lake. Predominantly marshland, it was classified as a wetland of international importance on February 21, 1994, and is also a globally significant Important Bird Area. It is one of the "few significant agricultural areas of the province", and is in the Montane Cordillera. It stretches north along Kootenay Lake for approximately 20 km, and south to the United States border. It is both the only breeding site of the Forster's tern and the only site with leopard frogs in the province, as well as one of the few Canadian habitats for the Coeur D'Alene salamander. Creston Valley provides staging and nesting areas for migratory birds on the Pacific Flyway.
The Queen Maud Gulf Migratory Bird Sanctuary is Canada's largest federally owned protected area, encompassing some 61,765 km2 (23,848 sq mi) of the Arctic Circle coastline. 6,710 km2 (2,590 sq mi) are marine, and 55,055 km2 (21,257 sq mi) are terrestrial.
Lake Nemrut is a freshwater crater lake in Bitlis Province, eastern Turkey. It is part of Nemrut Caldera, a volcanic caldera atop Volcano Nemrut.
Akyatan Lagoon is a 14700-hectare wetland ecosystem that is designated as Wetland of International Importance by Ramsar Convention. A major stopover for migrating birds, Akyatan is recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International. It is the single largest green turtle rookery at the Mediterranean, holding 43% of the Mediterranean nesting population.
The Kanwar Taal or Kabar Taal Lake or Kabartal Wetland located in Begusarai district of Bihar, India, is Asia's largest freshwater oxbow lake. It is approximately six times the size of the Bharatpur Sanctuary. In November 2020, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) declared it the first Ramsar site in Bihar. It is one of the 85 Ramsar sites in India now.
Kanwar jheel, as it is locally called, is located 22 km north-west of Begusarai Town in Manjhaul. It is a residual oxbow lake, formed due to meandering of Burhi Gandak river, a tributary of Ganga, in the geological past. It covers 2,620 hectares of the Indo-Gangetic plains in the northern Bihar State. The Site is one of 18 wetlands within an extensive floodplain complex; it floods during the monsoon season to a depth of 1.5 metres. This absorption of floodwaters is a vital service in Bihar State where 70% of the land is vulnerable to inundation. During the dry season, areas of marshland dry out and are used for agriculture. Significant biodiversity is present, with 165 plant species and 394 animal species recorded, including 221 bird species. The Wetland is an important stopover along the Central Asian Flyway, with 58 migratory waterbirds using it to rest and refuel. It is also a valuable site for fish biodiversity with over 50 species documented. Five critically endangered species inhabit the site, including three vultures – the red-headed vulture, white-rumped vulture and Indian vulture – and two waterbirds, the sociable lapwing and Baer’s pochard. Major threats to the Site include water management activities such as drainage, water abstraction, damming and canalization.
The Port Phillip Bay and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site is one of the Australian sites listed under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance. It was designated on 15 December 1982, and is listed as Ramsar Site No.266. Much of the site is also part of either the Swan Bay and Port Phillip Bay Islands Important Bird Area or the Werribee and Avalon Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of their importance for wetland and waterbirds as well as for orange-bellied parrots. It comprises some six disjunct, largely coastal, areas of land, totalling 229 km2, along the western shore of Port Phillip and on the Bellarine Peninsula, in the state of Victoria. Wetland types protected include shallow marine waters, estuaries, freshwater lakes, seasonal swamps, intertidal mudflats and seagrass beds.
The Forrestdale and Thomsons Lakes Ramsar Site comprises two separate nature reserves, totalling 754 ha in area, protecting two shallow fresh to brackish, seasonal lakes in a suburban and agricultural landscape in south-western Western Australia. It lies in the Swan Coastal Plain bioregion and is used mainly for birdwatching and walking. The site is recognised as being of international importance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, under which it was designated Ramsar Site 481 on 7 June 1990.
Ghodaghodi Tal is a Ramsar site in western Nepal. It was established in August 2003 it covers an area of 2,563 h (9,230 ks) in Kailali District at an elevation of 205 m (673 ft) on the lower slopes of the Siwalik Hills. It was declared as a bird sanctuary in March 2022.
The Jagdishpur Reservoir is a reservoir in Jahadi Village Development Committee, Kapilvastu District, Nepal which was named after Er. Jagadish Jha who designed and supervised the construction of Banaganga dam. With a surface area of 225 ha (2.25 km2), it is the largest reservoir in the country and an important wetland site. It is situated at an altitude of 197 m (646 ft). The maximum water depth varies between 2 m (6.6 ft) in the dry season and 7 m (23 ft) in the monsoon season.
Despite being a relatively small country, Albania is exceedingly rich in biodiversity. Its ecosystems and habitats support over 5,550 species of vascular and non-vascular plants and more than 15,600 species of coniferous and non-coniferous evergreens, most of which are threatened at global and European levels. The country has made recent efforts to expand its network of protected areas which now include: 11 national parks, 1 marine park, 718 nature monuments, 23 managed nature reserves, 11 protected landscapes, 4 World Heritage Sites, 4 Ramsar sites and other protected areas of various categories, that when combined, account for 21.36% of the territory. Furthermore, a biosphere reserve, 45 important plant areas and 16 important bird areas are found in the country.
Chowilla Regional Reserve is protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located in the gazetted locality of Chowilla about 250 kilometres north-east of the state capital of Adelaide.
The Kızılırmak Delta is the delta of the Kızılırmak River where it flows into the Black Sea, 40 km east of the city of Samsun. The delta is the third largest in Turkey and has the biggest wetland in Turkey's Black Sea Region. The wetland is a key biodiversity area and one of several internationally important Ramsar sites in Turkey because of its rich bird and plant life. There is a bird reserve which is important for migration.
Lake Meke is a volcanic crater lake composed of two nested lakes located in Konya Province, central Turkey. It is a registered natural monument of the country and a Ramsar site. Lake Meke is located in Karapınar district of Konya Province. It is 9 km (5.6 mi) away from Karapınar, and 2 km (1.2 mi) south of the Konya-Adana highway E981.
Studenchishte Marsh is the last remains of a previously extensive wetland habitat on the eastern shore of ancient Lake Ohrid in North Macedonia. It is also the final major coastline wetland at Lake Ohrid and one of only seven marshes with relict communities that still exist in North Macedonia. With several millennia of natural history, it is a site of key conservation interest and part of the Lake Ohrid Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention.
