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The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands: Its History and Development by G The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands: its History and Development by G. V. T. Matthews Re-issued Ramsar Convention Secretariat, 2013 The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands: its History and Development by G. V. T. Matthews (Ramsar, 1993) Published by the Ramsar Convention Bureau, Gland, Switzerland. © Copyright: 1993 Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat. Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorized without prior permission from the copyright holder. Reproduction for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. ISBN No. 2-940073-00-7 Edited by: Erika Luthi, Ramsar Printed by: Imprimerie Dupuis SA, CH-1348 Le Brassus, Switzerland. Cover and centre part: Apple Fields, CH-1147 Montricher, Switzerland. Available from: Ramsar Bureau, 28 rue Mauverney, CH-l 196 Gland, Switzerland. The designations of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Ramsar Convention Bureau concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. For this 2013 re-issue of the 1993 edition, no alterations have been made to the original text. Prof Matthews’ figures and descriptions concerning the state of the Convention in 1993 may be updated by reference to the Ramsar website, http://www.ramsar.org. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands: its History and Development Contents Introduction 2 Foreword 2 Acknowledgements 3 Chapter 1 The Ramsar Convention 4 Chapter 2 Arousing public interest in wetlands 8 Chapter 3 The evolution of the text up to signature at Ramsar 13 Chapter 4 Listing of wetlands 29 Chapter 5 Classification and evaluation 37 Chapter 6 Wise use, management and monitoring 47 Chapter 7 Funding the operation of the Convention 62 Chapter 8 The roles of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, the Standing 69 Committee, and the Bureau Chapter 9 Legal and moral aspects of joining the Convention 76 References 82 Addenda 87 G. V. T. Matthews Introduction The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was adopted over twenty years ago as the first of the modern global nature conservation conventions. The period when the treaty was being developed was a time of greatly increased environmental awareness. Looking back, we can see that the Convention was able to break important new ground in global efforts for nature conservation and sustainable development. Indeed, much of the philosophy behind the Ramsar Convention, including the need for a network of protected areas and the wise use principle for the management of wetlands, has since been adopted in other international arrangements and in national law. Over the years following its adoption, there have been tremendous changes in the Convention. A protocol was adopted in 1982, followed by amendments in 1987. Presently there are some 75 member States to the Convention throughout the world which have designated almost 600 wetland sites onto the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. The Convention has a vibrant programme, a well-endowed budget and a sizeable permanent secretariat, the Ramsar Bureau, which serves to assist in the day-to-day operation of the treaty. In light of these many developments, the Ramsar Convention Bureau has considered that it is now timely to provide a concise history of the Ramsar Convention, both for students and for professionals responsible for the present day application of the Convention. We have been delighted that Professor G. V. T. Matthews has agreed to undertake this task. As will be immediately evident in the following pages, there is no one better placed than Professor Matthews to recount this history. While the views expressed in this publication are those of the author alone, the study is based upon official documentation and records available to the author and to the Ramsar Bureau. We are most grateful to Professor Matthews for his continued contribution to the Ramsar Convention. Daniel Navid Secretary General Ramsar Convention Bureau Foreword Since prehistoric times the relations between Man and Wetlands have been marked by conflict. Wetlands were considered disastrous realms, sources of disease, obstacles to any form of positive development. People who lived in them were held in contempt as pariahs. The fact that many of the most advanced human civilizations developed within or in immediate proximity to wetlands is thus quite astonishing. Mesopotamia, the Nile delta in Egypt, Alexander’s Macedonia in the Axios marshes, Rome by the Pontine marshes, the Netherlands, London, and the German Hanseatic towns situated in the flood plains of vast deltas are but a few examples. In distant continents the Mekong delta, the marshes in Central Mexico, and the inner Niger delta in Mali should be mentioned. It would be an interesting task for ecology-oriented cultural heritage historians to study the possible cause and effect connections between advanced civilizations and wetlands. One can guess that the latter’s extraordinary biodiversity and natural productivity played an important role. Nonetheless, throughout the whole of human history, wetlands have remained in disrepute. Drainage and reclamation have always been considered civilized actions. Thus over thousands of years, and especially over the past few centuries and far into the twentieth century, most and the vastest wetlands have disappeared. Psilovikos proved that between 1930 and 1985, in Macedonia alone, 94.3 per cent of the peat and marshlands and over one third of all lakes were drained. 2 The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (1993) The great importance of wetlands for the conservation of the natural environment has gradually become known only over the past decades. Ornithologists were the first to support wetland conservation, because they wished to maintain the diversity of migratory waterfowl. Thus the proposal for an international treaty to conserve wetlands first emanated from ornithological circles. The name of the Ramsar Convention to this day bears the appendage “especially as waterfowl habitats,” although, even in those days, twenty years ago, ornithologists looked much further ahead. In the meantime, it became more and more recognized that wetlands have a far greater importance for ground water protection, regulation of the water cycle, water storage, water purification, and as an ecological basis for many forms of life, especially for fish. In the Third World entire populations depend essentially upon wetlands. Thousands of millions, probably hundreds of thousands of millions of dollars, are spent each year in the industrialized world in order to restore the hydrological and biological functions - functions which would be free of charge if wet-lands had been conserved. Ground water protection and water purification measures, in particular, swallow enormous sums. The re-establishment of formerly drained wetlands is therefore becoming more and more discussed. This is often considered an “expensive joke”, but actually it is a very wise step towards a better economy in the future. Ramsar has already achieved a great deal in its first twenty years. This book bears witness to that. Yet the treaty will have to adapt itself continually in order to do justice to the wetlands’ vital importance in today’s world. To this end this book will also provide an important stimulus. Dr Luc Hoffmann Director Emeritus, IWRB Vice-President Emeritus, WWF Acknowledgements The author is very grateful to the Ramsar Convention Bureau for its encouragement and support for the production of this book. He is also appreciative to Dr Gerald Dick, Dr Luc Hoffmann, Mr Cyrille de Klemm, Professor M.F. Mörzer Bruyns and Dr Jan Rooth, who have read and made helpful suggestions on the preliminary text of the book. Finally a note of gratitude is due to Ms Françoise Dagon, Ms Erika Luthi and Ms Mireille Katz of the Bureau for their considerable editorial assistance. 3 G. V. T. Matthews Chapter 1 The Ramsar Convention The need for a Convention on Wetlands On February 3rd 1971, in the little Iranian town of Ramsar, nestling between the Alborz moun- tains and the Caspian coast, the representatives of 18 nations put their signatures to the text of a remarkable treaty. The Ramsar Convention was the first of the modern instruments seeking to conserve natural resources on a global scale. It is still the only world-wide treaty which restrains the countries joining it from the unthinking, selfish exploitation of their sovereign natural patrimony. It is concerned with that most threatened group of habitats, the wetlands. These are shallow open waters - lakes, ponds, rivers and coastal fringes - and any land which is regularly or intermittently covered or saturated by water - marshes, bogs, swamps, flood plains and the like. For centuries mankind had viewed wetlands as places to drain and convert to more obvious uses, such as agriculture. But the process had gone so far in the developed countries that the disappea- rance of wetlands was leading to undesirable consequences - to the loss of groundwater reserves and the consequent need for irrigation, to flash floods, to shoreline destruction, to the accumula- tion of pollutants and to other subtle disturbances. Many useful plants and animals dependent on wetlands were disappearing with them. People interested in the conservation of waterfowl and fish were taking the lead in calling for a halt to wetland destruction in the developed countries. Losses were accelerating as extremely efficient machinery and techniques for draining wetlands were invented. The developing countries needed help to avoid making the same mistakes, to treat their resources wisely. International action was necessary for several reasons. Many wetlands lay athwart national boundaries or derived their water supplies from neighbouring countries. The circulation of water in the atmosphere was truly international. Fish hatched in the wetlands of one country might be caught as adults in those of another, or on the high seas.
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