Ramsar sites

The Ramsar sites that we visited as part of this project are listed under Pictures, Videos and Reports.

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, called the Ramsar convention, is an inter governmental treaty that provides a framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

Ramsar is a city in Iran where this international convention was signed between different countries in 1971. The convention is an agreement between the countries (contracting parties) on how to manage specific wetlands to ensure its sustainability and wise use of its natural resources, most notably water.

Benefits of the Ramsar Convention includes:

• Increased public awareness
• Increased participation by local stakeholders
• Provides greater support for protection and conservation of the site
• Increased access to conservation funding
• Enhanced opportunities for research and ecotourism

By the end of 2013 there were 168 contracting parties to the convention. The Southern African countries joined in the following order:

    5 South Africa         21 Dec 1975
  66 Zambia                 28 Dec 1991
  91 Namibia               23 Dec 1995
  97 Malawi                  14 Mar 1997
  98 Botswana               9 Apr 1997
113 Madagascar        25 Jan 1999
139 Lesotho                  1 Nov 2004
141 Mozambique         3 Dec 2004
164 Zimbabwe             3 May 2013
165 Swaziland           15 Jun 2013

For more information, read this document that was produced by SAN Parks in 2007, 

or 

visit the official Ramsar web site: www.ramsar.org