February 2nd is World Wetlands Day

Laguna Hedionda, Los Lípez Ramsar site, Bolivia (Photo Omar Rocha)

Best wishes to the Secretariat for the Ramsar Convention (Convention on Wetlands of International Importance) on World Wetlands Day, celebrating the 39th anniversary of the its adoption. The Ramsar Convention is a site-based intergovernmental treaty which encourages countries to identify and manage specific places so that their values and benefits are protected for future generations. It is the only global environmental treaty that deals with a particular ecosystem.

World Heritage and Ramsar sites are commonly associated throughout the world. Some notable examples include Brazil's immense Pantanal wetlands, the Sundarbans mangrove forests of Bangladesh, the Tubbataha National Marine Park in the Philippines and the Danube Delta in Romania.

UNESCO is the Depository of the Ramsar Convention. UNESCO and Ramsar join efforts to preserve important sites.