World Wetland Day celebrated across the globe :2 February

• World Wetland Day is observed on this day because on 2 February 1971 the Ramsar Convention was adopted. 
• World Wetland Day was celebrated across the globe on 2 February 2014. 
• The theme for this year’s World Wetland Day was Wetlands & Agriculture. 
• The Ramsar Convention chose Wetland & Agriculture as theme for World Wetland Day 2014 in view of the UN declaring 2014 as International Year of Family Farming.
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RAMSAR CONVENTION:

• The Ramsar Convention (formally, the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat) is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value. 
• It is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the Convention was signed in 1971.

Ramsar Convention

Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat'
Ramsar logo
Signed	February 2, 1971
Location	Ramsar (Iran)
Effective	December 21, 1975
Condition	Ratification by 7 states
Parties	168
Depositary	Director General of UNESCO
Languages	English, French, German and Russian www.ramsar.org

CONVENTION:

• The convention was developed and adopted by participating nations at a meeting in Ramsar, Mazandaran, Iran on February 2, 1971, hosted by the Iranian Department of Environment, and came into force on December 21, 1975.
• The Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance now includes 2,122 sites (known as Ramsar Sites) covering 205,366,160 ha (507,470,800 acres), up from 1,021 sites in 2000. 
• The nation with the highest number of sites is the United Kingdom at 169; the nation with the greatest area of listed wetlands is Canada, with over 130,000 km² (50,000 sq mi), including the Queen Maud Gulf Migratory Bird Sanctuary at 62,800 km² (24,200 sq mi).
• The Ramsar definition of wetlands is fairly wide, including "areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters" as well as fish ponds, rice paddies and salt pans.
• Presently there are 168 contracting parties, up from 119 in 1999 and from 21 initial signatory nations in 1971.
• The state parties meet every three years as the Conference of the Contracting Parties (CCP), the first held in Cagliari, Italy in 1980. Amendments to the original convention have been agreed to in Paris (in 1982) and Regina (in 1987).
• There is a standing committee, a scientific review panel, and a secretariat. The headquarters is located in Gland, Switzerland, shared with the IUCN.

International Organization Partners

• The Ramsar Convention works closely with five other organisations known as International Organization Partners (IOPs). 
• These are Birdlife International, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Wetlands International and WWF International. 
• These support the work of the Convention by providing expert technical advice, helping implement field studies and providing financial support. 
• The IOPs also participate regularly as observers in all meetings of the Conference of the Parties and as full members of the Scientific and Technical Review Panel. For example, at the 2008 Convention of Parties, IWMI scientists contributed directly to a number of resolutions including those relating to wetlands' links to human health, biofuels, poverty reduction, biogeographic regionalization and biodiversity in rice paddies.