Ramsar wetlands are designated sites of importance across the globe. The Ramsar Convention was established in 1971 by UNESCO to help establish these areas that provide important ecosystem services. The convention includes measures to aid in protecting the sites, wetlands aid in freshwater filtration, provide flood control, habitats for animals. Groundwater recharge and climate change mitigation. The Convention uses a broad definition of wetlands so that many ecosystem types qualify and can be protected. This includes all lakes and rivers, underground aquifers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands, peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, mangroves and other coastal areas, coral reefs, and all human-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs and salt pans. To join the Convention, a country must have at least one designated Ramsar site that is of international importance in terms of ecology, botany, zoology, limnology or hydrology. Canada joined the convention in 1981. Today Canada has 37 sites that cover 130,867 square kilometres. Ramsar Stats: 2,231 Ramsar Sites 2.1 million sq km area covered (an area larger than Mexico) 169 Participating governments 18 Transboundary Ramsar Sites 170 sites have been established in the United Kingdom 148,424 sq km of land is designated a Ramsar site in Bolivia February 2nd is World Wetland Day! To find your nearest Ramsar site, or to explore other sites around the globe check out this interactive map here: https://rsis.ramsar.org/ http://www.ramsar.org http://ncc-ccn.gc.ca/places-to-visit/greenbelt/mer-bleue
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