How does ramsar convention work

This is sometimes difficult, as not all countries report their progress in implementing the convention adequately or on time, and many governments do not allocate enough budget, do not develop wetland management plans or do not implement these plans. In some countries, the responsible government agencies lack the necessary knowledge and expertise or the financial resources.

Sometimes extreme conditions such as disasters or war interrupt years of hard work. To address wetland loss, there should be more attention paid to the underlying causes, but this can raise questions about the effectiveness and integrity of governance in individual countries, sensitive issues that are often avoided. This can lead to scepticism about yet another country signing the convention, or yet another Ramsar site that is designated.

It raises doubt about the relevance of the convention. The biggest challenge in achieving better policies and management for wetlands is not formulating the policies and management plans themselves.

Uganda, for example, was one of the first countries in Africa to develop policies and legislation for sustainable wetland management. But the small department that is responsible for enforcing the rules competes with powerful opponents in other sectors of government and in the private sector.

Wetland departments typically face a lack of awareness about the importance of wetlands and sometimes struggle with resistance or even corruption. Even in countries where the protection of water and biodiversity seemed securely anchored in federal legislation, things can change. In the United States, scientists are now involved in lawsuits to prevent the government from lifting restrictions on development and exploitation of protected areas.

Despite some of these doubts, research shows that countries that take the international agreements seriously, show better performance in wetland protection. Perhaps the effects are not immediately visible, but good governance pays off. An article in Nature showed that the waterbird populations improved in countries with more effective governance and protected areas.

An international agreement like the Ramsar Convention is important for supporting environmental policy development and stimulates countries to do better in this respect. Ramsar is also a good international forum for compiling and sharing knowledge about sustainable wetland management. Thus, even though progress is sometimes slow and at times it may feel like "muddling along", an international agreement that keeps countries on task remains important and relevant, for the benefit of wetlands and people.

Under the auspices of the chair, several research and capacity development activities have been initiated, including contributions to " The Wetland Book " published by Springer in It has three main 'pillars' of activity:.

Current details of Contracting Parties to the Convention, and the number and extent of Ramsar Sites designated globally, are available from the Ramsar website. While the initial emphasis was on selecting sites of importance to waterbirds, now non-bird features are increasingly taken into account, both in the selection of new sites and when reviewing existing sites. Government and the devolved administrations have also issued policy statements relating to Ramsar Sites which extend to them the same protection at a policy level as Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas.

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