Purpose and issues The Ramsar Convention is unusual in that it concerns one particular ecosystem: wetlands. Since 1961, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) was the driving force behind a geographical and ecological inventory of wetlands that studied the migration patterns and habitats of waterfowl. A second inventory, of peat lands, was also carried out in the same conditions. A decade later saw the signing of the Ramsar Convention. The Convention's mission is "the conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local, regional and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world". Wetlands provide fundamental ecosystem services, regulate hydrological regimes and foster biodiversity (the diversity of species, the gene pool, and ecosystems). They also constitute a very valuable scientific, cultural, economic...
18/01/2012
US bans import of Burmese pythons
Antoine Lévêque
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For a long time, they were regarded by mankind as sterile, unhealthy, even dangerous places. Now, however, it is understood that wetlands are home to amazing ecosystems and a biological diversity that is almost beyond compare. Whether they take the form of salt marshes,...
The British non-governmental organization Cool Earth uses the donations it receives to acquire rain forests...
National biodiversity index Threatened ecosystems
