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Ramsar Convention

Camena Guneratne

Legal Studies Dept

Open University

Convention on Wetlands of International Importance

especially as Waterfowl Habitat

adopted 2 February 1971;

entered into force 21 December 1975

What are wetlands?

•  Wetlands are areas where water is the primary factor controlling the environment and the associated plant and animal life. They occur where the water table is at or near the surface of the land, or where the land is covered by shallow water.”

•  Ramsar is considered the first international convention to deal with the conservation of an ecosystem, namely wetlands.

Definition of wetlands under the Convention

•  “wetlands are areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide doe not exceed six metres”

(Article 1).

•  Wetlands designated for the purposes of Ramsar may include “riparian and coastal zones adjacent to the wetlands, and islands or bodies of marine water deeper than six metres at low tide lying within the wetlands, especially where these have importance as waterfowl habitat” (Article 2).

•  Estimated that 4% - 6% of the earth's surface is covered by wetlands.

•  Five types of wetlands have been recognised.

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Types of wetlands

1.  Marine (coastal wetlands including coastal lagoons, rocky shores and coral reefs);

2.  Estuarine (including deltas, tidal marshes and mangrove swamps);

3.  Lacustrine (wetlands associated with lakes); 4.  Riverine (wetlands along rivers and

streams); and 5.  Palustrine (meaning “marshy” – marshes,

swamps and bogs).

Natural wetlands - Muthurajawela marshes

Human made wetlands

•  fish and shrimp ponds, •  farm ponds, •  irrigated agricultural land, •  salt pans, •  reservoirs, •  gravel pits, sewage farms •  canals.

Human made wetlands Paddy fields

Human made wetlands Wewas or tanks Sustainability of wetlands

•  The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) notes that there is insufficient information on wetlands to assess their global loss generally.

•  However, provides some specific examples which show that wetland damage has reached critical proportions.

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•  The surface area of the Mesopotamian marshes (located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in southern Iraq) decreased from an area of 15,000–20,000 square kilometers in the 1950s to less than 400 square kilometers today due to excessive water withdrawals, dams, and industrial development.

•  the volume of water in the Aral Sea basin has been reduced by 75% since 1960 due mainly to large-scale upstream diversions of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river flow for irrigation of close to 7 million hectares.

•  Lake Chad shrank over 35 years from about 2.5 million hectares in surface area to only one twentieth that size at the end of the twentieth century as a consequence of natural and human-induced effects, with the subsequent loss of many species and ecosystem services.

•  The Mesopotamian marshlands in Iraq originally covered 1.5–2 million hectares but were devastated in recent decades by massive drainage and dam construction along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

Coastal wetlands •  Suffer the greatest damage. •  About 35% of mangroves have been lost over

the last two decades, mainly as a result of aquaculture development, deforestation, and freshwater diversion.

•  About 20% of coral reefs were destroyed and more than a further 20% degraded in the last several decades of the twentieth century as a result of overexploitation, destructive fishing practices, pollution and siltation, and changes in storm frequency and intensity.

Inter-dependence of species and ecosystems

•  Ramsar as a Convention illustrates the inter-dependence of species and ecosystems.

•  The Convention’s original emphasis was on wetlands of importance as waterfowl habitats.

•  However, the ecological importance of wetlands is not limited to this dimension.

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Wetlands species loss

•  Of the 964 bird species that are predominantly wetland-dependent, 203 (21% of the total) are extinct or globally threatened. The status of globally threatened birds dependent on freshwater wetlands and, even more so, that of coastal seabirds has deteriorated faster since 1988 than the status of birds dependent on other (terrestrial) ecosystems.

•  Over one third (37%) of the freshwater-dependent mammal species that were assessed for the IUCN Red List are globally threatened. These include groups such as manatees, river dolphins, and porpoises, in which all species assessed are listed as threatened.

•  Approximately 20% of the world’s 10,000 described freshwater fish species have been listed as threatened, endangered, or extinct in the last few decades.

•  Nearly one third (1,856 species) of the world’s amphibian species are threatened with extinction, a large portion of which (964 species) are from fresh water, especially flowing freshwater, habitats.

•  At least 50% of the 200 species of freshwater turtles have been assessed in the IUCN Red List as globally threatened, and more than 75% of freshwater turtle species in Asia are listed as globally threatened, including 18 that are critically endangered, with one being extinct. All 6 species of marine turtles that have been assessed that use coastal wetlands for feeding and breeding are listed as threatened in the IUCN Red List.

•  Of the 23 species of crocodilians that inhabit a range of wetlands including marshes, swamps, rivers, lagoons, and estuaries, four are critically endangered, three endangered, and three vulnerable

Wetlands and climate change

•  Climate change impacts on wetlands, •  According to the IPCC [Intergovernmental

Panel on Climate Change] Second Assessment Report, changes in climate will lead to an intensification of the global hydrological cycle and could have major impacts on regional water resources. Climate change may also lead to shifts in the geographical distribution of wetlands and an increase in the severity and extent of coral reef bleaching and mortality.

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•  Further, sea-level rise and increases in storm surges associated with climate change could result in the erosion of shores and habitat, increased salinity of estuaries and freshwater aquifers, altered tidal ranges in rivers and bays, changes in sediment and nutrient transport, increased coastal flooding, and in turn, increase the vulnerability of some coastal populations

Loss of wetlands contributes to climate change

•  Although wetlands cover only a small part of the earth’s land surface they contain around 10% of the total global carbon store. Therefore the loss of wetlands and peatlands releases carbon and methane into the atmosphere, thus increasing human induced greenhouse gas emissions and contributing to climate change. The largest greenhouse gas emissions resulting from peatland degradation currently take place in the peat swamp forests of developing countries, particularly in South East Asia

Ecosystem services delivered by wetlands

•  “Wetlands deliver a wide range of ecosystem services that contribute to human well-being, such as fish and fibre, water supply, water purification, climate regulation, flood regulation, coastal protection, recreational opportunities, and, increasingly, tourism. When both the marketed and nonmarketed economic benefits of wetlands are included, the total economic value of unconverted wetlands is often greater than that of converted wetlands.”

•  “The projected continued loss and degradation of wetlands will reduce the capacity of wetlands to mitigate impacts and result in further reduction in human well-being (including an increase in the prevalence of disease), especially for poorer people in lower-income countries, where technological solutions are not as readily available. At the same time, demand for many of these services (such as denitrification and flood and storm protection) will increase.”

(Millennium Ecosystem Assessment)

Religious and cultural values •  Wetlands provide significant aesthetic,

educational, cultural, and spiritual benefits, as well as a vast array of opportunities for recreation and tourism. Recreational fishing can generate considerable income: 35–45 million people take part in recreational fishing (inland and saltwater) in the United States, spending a total of $24–37 billion each year on their hobby. Much of the economic value of coral reefs—with net benefits estimated at nearly $30 billion each year—is generated from nature-based tourism, including scuba diving and snorkeling.

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Culture contributes to wetlands

•  Although there are no natural lakes in Sri Lanka, an array of ancient irrigation tanks has substituted the former wetland type. Numbering nearly 10,000, these man-made wetlands depict the rich cultural heritage of Sri Lanka. The major irrigation reservoirs (each more than 200 ha) cover an area of 7820 ha, while the seasonal/minor irrigation tanks (each less than 200 ha) account for 52250 ha. Typical ancient irrigation tanks include the Parakrama Samudraya and the Minneriya tank. –  An Overview of the Wetlands of Sri Lanka and their

Conservation Significance - S W Kotagama and C N B Bambaradeniya.

The causes of wetland degradation

•  Human induced. •  Indirect drivers - population growth and

economic development •  Direct drivers - infrastructure

development, land conversion, water withdrawal, pollution, over harvesting and over exploitation, and the introduction of invasive alien species

MEA has described the direct drivers

•  The degradation and loss of inland wetlands and species has been driven by infrastructure development (such as dams, dikes, and levees), land conversion, water withdrawals, pollution, overharvesting, and the introduction of invasive alien species. Global climate change and nutrient loading are projected to become increasingly important drivers in the next 50 years.

•  Increased human use of fresh water has reduced the amount available to maintain the ecological character of many inland water systems.

•  The loss of mangroves is caused by aquaculture development, deforestation for firewood and other land uses, and freshwater diversion.

•  Over the past four decades, excessive nutrient loading has emerged as one of the most important direct drivers of ecosystem change in inland and coastal wetlands.

•  Global climate change is expected to exacerbate the loss and degradation of many wetlands and the loss or decline of their species and to harm the human populations dependent on their services; however, projections about the extent of such loss and degradation or decline are not yet well established.

•  The greatest threat to coastal wetlands is development related conversion of coastal ecosystems, leading to large-scale losses of habitats and services.

•  Other direct drivers affecting coastal wetlands include diversion of freshwater flows, nitrogen loading, over harvesting, siltation, changes in water temperature, and species invasions.

Underlying causes of wetland destruction

•  largely socio-economic and political. •  poverty and economic inequality;

population pressures from growth, immigration and mass tourism; social and political conflicts; sectoral demands on water resources; centralized planning processes; and financial policies

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Economic drivers of wetland degradation

•  “Economic-based information deficiencies, market distortions, and perverse subsidies contribute to the loss of many wetlands.” (MEA)

•  MEA notes that although the benefits gained from maintaining wetlands are often greater than the benefits of conversion, there are a number of economic and inter-related reasons why wetlands destruction continues.

•  The value of ecosystem services is often greater than the value of conversion. However, many of these values are not marketable – for example, flood mitigation, climate regulation, groundwater recharge, and prevention of erosion.

•  In some cases the conversion has greater benefits than maintenance, as for example in conversion to agriculture. However, as more and more wetlands are thus converted, the value and importance of the remainder correspondingly increases.

Summary

•  Value of ecosystem services is not marketable.

•  Wetlands are public goods so there will not be accountability in using them inappropriately.

•  The private benefits of converting them are often made greater by subsidies.

Benefits of wetlands to local people

•  MEA states that local people benefit the most from wetlands.

•  However, they belong to groups that are often politically marginalized and are unable to participate in decision making processes that often disregard their needs, and lack transparency and accountability.

The Ramsar Convention as a response

•  recognises the interdependence of Man and his environment and takes note of the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands as regulators of water regimes and as habitats supporting a characteristic flora and fauna, especially waterfowl.

(Preamble)

•  Preamble says that they are “a resource of great economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value, the loss of which would be irreparable” and expresses the desire to stem their progressive encroachment and loss, now and in the future.

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•  The Preamble also recognises that waterfowl in their seasonal migrations may transcend frontiers and so should be regarded as an international resource and expresses confidence that “the conservation of wetlands and their flora and fauna can be ensured by combining far-sighted national policies with co-ordinated international action.”

Mission of the Convention

•  “the conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local, regional and national actions and international co-operation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world.”

List of Wetlands

•  Central point of the Convention is the List of Wetlands of International Importance.

•  On signing the Convention each Contracting Party must designate at least one wetland to be included in the List. According to Article 2(2) wetlands should be selected for the List on account of their international significance in terms of ecology, botany, zoology, limnology or hydrology.

•  In the first instance wetlands of international importance to waterfowl at any season should be included.

•  A Party may add further wetlands to the List and may also extend the boundaries of those already on it, or, because of urgent national interests delete or restrict the boundaries already on it.

•  Contracting Parties must promote the conservation included in the List and the wise use of wetlands in their territory.

•  Therefore States who join the Convention are expressing a commitment to promote the conservation and wise use of wetlands within their territories.

Convention processes

•  carried out by the Contracting Parties, the Convention Secretariat and the Standing Committee.

•  there is a Scientific and Technical Review Panel of the Ramsar Convention which was established in 1993 as a subsidiary body of the Convention. Its functions are to provide scientific and technical guidance to the Conference of the Parties, the Standing Committee, and the Ramsar Secretariat

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Second Strategic Plan

Parties identified three “pillars of action.” These are:

•  Working towards the wise use of their wetlands

•  Identifying, designating and managing a coherent and comprehensive suite of sites for the List of Wetlands of International Importance (the Ramsar List); and

•  Co-operating internationally in wetland conservation and wise use.

International Co-operation

•  Wetlands cut across territorial boundaries.

•  In 1999, the Conference of the Parties adopted “The Guidelines for International Co-operation under the Ramsar Convention” by Resolution VII.19.

International co-operation covers:

•  Managing shared wetland and river basins

•  Managing shared wetland-related species

•  Ramsar working in partnership with international/regional environment conventions and agencies

•  Sharing of experience and information

……

•  International assistance to support the conservation and wise use of wetlands

•  Sustainable harvesting and international trade in wetland-derived plants and animal products

•  Regulation of foreign investment to ensure wetland conservation and wise use

Success of the Convention

•  As at 30 January 2008 there were 158 Parties to the Ramsar Convention.

•  They have collectively listed 1831 Ramsar sites comprising a total area of 170,040,380 hectares.

Sri Lanka’s Ramsar sites

•  Bundala (1990) •  Annaiwilundawa Tank Sanctuary (2001) •  Maduganga (2003) •  Vankalai Sanctuary(2010) •  Kumana Wetland Cluster (2011) •  Wilpattu Ramsar Wetland Cluster (2013)

http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-pubs-notes-annotated-ramsar-16173/main/ramsar/1-30-168%5E16173_4000_0__

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Annaiwilundawa Tank Sanctuary

Co-operation with other Conventions

•  The Ramsar Secretariat has entered into several Memoranda of Understanding with other Convention Secretariats. These include:

•  Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD),

•  Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS),

•  UNESCO World Heritage Convention, •  United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

•  United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD),

•  Ramsar also works closely with several regional conventions, the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Programme and with the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation

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The Future?

•  The future of wetland ecosystems and the species dependent upon them remains bleak, with loss of wetlands expected to continue until the mid 21st century (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment)

•  Pressure will be most felt in lesser developed countries.