Ramsar Convention

Meghalaya High Court recently took suo motu public interest litigation to monitor wetland conservation in the State.

• February 2 is observed as World Wetlands Day to mark the adoption of the Ramsar Convention (1971).
• The 2023 theme was 'Protecting Wetlands for Our Common Future', aligning with sustainable development principles from the Brundtland Report (1987).
• About Ramsar Convention: International treaty for "conservation and sustainable use of wetlands“, signed on 2nd February 1971 in Ramsar, Iran. 172 parties have ratified the convention.
• Core principle: "Wise use" of wetlands (maintenance of ecological character within sustainable development).
• Need for the Convention: Wetlands provide essential ecosystem services like freshwater supply, food, biodiversity conservation, flood control, and climate change mitigation.
• 64% of the world’s wetlands have disappeared in the last century.
• About Wetland: Defined broadly under Ramsar Convention. Includes lakes, rivers, underground aquifers, swamps, marshes, peatlands, wet grasslands, estuaries, mangroves, tidal flats, coral reefs, reservoirs, rice paddies, salt pans, fishponds, and other human-made sites.