Ramsar site

Last updated August 05, 2025

Harike Wetland is a Ramsar site in India Harike.jpg — Harike Wetland is a Ramsar site in India

A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,^[1] 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.^[1] Ramsar treaty participants meet regularly to identify and agree to protect "Wetlands of International Importance", especially those providing waterfowl habitat.

Site listings

The non-profit organisation Wetlands International provides access to the Ramsar database via the Ramsar Sites Information Service.^[2]

Ramsar site criteria

A wetland can be considered internationally important if any of the following nine criteria apply:^[3]

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 developed within the Ramsar Convention intended as a means for fast identification of the main types of wetlands for the purposes of the Convention.^[4]

Marine/coastal wetlands

Saline water:
- Permanent:
  - (A) Permanent shallow marine waters: Less than 6m deep at low tide; including sea bays and straits
  - (B) Marine subtidal aquatic beds: Underwater vegetation; including kelp beds and sea grass beds, and tropical marine meadows
  - (C) Coral reefs
- Shores:
  - (D) Rocky marine shores
  - (E) Sand, shingle or pebble shores
Saline or brackish water:
- Intertidal:
  - (G) Intertidal mud, sand or salt flats
  - (H) Intertidal marshes
  - (I) Intertidal forested wetlands
- Lagoons:
  - (J) Coastal brackish/saline lagoons
- Estuarine waters:
  - (F) Estuarine waters
Saline, brackish, or fresh water:
- Subterranean:
  - (Zk(a)) Karst and other subterranean hydrological systems
Fresh water:
- Lagoons:
  - (K) Coastal freshwater lagoons

Inland wetlands

Fresh water:
- Flowing water:
  - Permanent:
    - Permanent inland river deltas (L)
    - Permanent rivers/creeks/streams (M)
      - Freshwater springs, oases (Y)
  - Seasonal/intermittent rivers/creeks/streams (N)
- Lakes/pools:
  - Permanent >8 ha (O)
  - Permanent < 8 ha(Tp)
  - Seasonal / Intermittent > 8 ha (P)
  - Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts)
- Marshes on inorganic soils:
  - Permanent (herb dominated) (Tp)
  - Permanent / Seasonal / Intermittent (shrub dominated)(W)
  - Permanent / Seasonal / Intermittent (tree dominated) (Xf)
  - Seasonal/intermittent (herb dominated) (Ts)
- Marshes on peat 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, brackish or alkaline waters:
- Lakes
  - Permanent (Q)
  - Seasonal/intermittent (R)
- Marshes/pools
  - Permanent (Sp)
  - Seasonal/intermittent (Ss)
Fresh, saline, brackish or alkaline waters:
- Geothermal (Zg)
- Subterranean (Zk(b))

Human-made wetlands

(1): Aquaculture ponds
(2): Ponds (farm and stock ponds, small stock tanks, 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 and other subterranean hydrological systems

References

1 2 3 "The Convention on Wetlands". Ramsar. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
↑ Ramsar.org: Ramsar Sites Information Service website, by Wetlands International. Accessed 03.10.2016.
↑ "Ramsar Information Paper no. 5: the criteria for identifying wetlands of international importance" (PDF). The Ramsar Convention Secretariat. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
↑ "Ramsar Classification System for Wetland Type", Annex I of the Information sheet

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

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[ramsarhome-1] 1 2 3 "The Convention on Wetlands". Ramsar. Retrieved 3 October 2016.

[2] Ramsar.org: Ramsar Sites Information Service website, by Wetlands International. Accessed 03.10.2016.

[Criteria-3] "Ramsar Information Paper no. 5: the criteria for identifying wetlands of international importance" (PDF). The Ramsar Convention Secretariat. Retrieved 21 September 2018.

[4] "Ramsar Classification System for Wetland Type", Annex I of the Information sheet

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