Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands at 50

  • Comment
  • Published:

From Nature Ecology & Evolution

View current issue Submit your manuscript

At 50, the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, 1971) has a mixed legacy. To survive and stay relevant in the Anthropocene, the convention will need to embrace new ecological thinking and conservation approaches.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1: The timeline shows key internal and external events that have influenced the development trajectory of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

References

  1. Matthews, G. V. T. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands: Its History and Development (Ramsar Convention Bureau, 1993).

  2. Ramsar Convention on Wetlands Global Wetland Outlook: State of the World’s Wetlands and Their Services to People (Ramsar Convention Secretariat, 2018).

  3. Díaz, S. et al. Summary for Policymakers of the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES, 2019).

  4. Bowman, M. in Yearbook of International Co-operation on Environment and Development (eds Stokke, O. S. & Thommessen, Ø. B.) 61–68 (Earthscan, 2002).

  5. Morrison, T. H. et al. Nat. Sustain. 3, 947–955 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Jones, T. & Pritchard, D. Comprehensive Review and Analysis of Ramsar Advisory Mission (RAM) Reports (Ramsar Convention Secretariat, 2018).

  7. Bridgewater, P., Kim, R. E. & Bosselmann, K. Yearbook Int. Environ. Law 25, 61–78 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Wetlands and Water – Synthesis (World Resources Institute, 2005).

  9. Green, A. J. et al. Front. Ecol. Environ. 15, 99–107 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Cumming, G. S. Anthropocene 13, 46–56 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Mauerhofer, V., Kim, R. E. & Stevens, C. Environ. Sci. Policy 51, 95–105 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Tanzi, A. et al. (eds) The UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Brill Nijhoff, 2015)

  13. Loures, F. & Rieu-Clarke, A. (eds) The UN Watercourses Convention in Force (Routledge, 2013).

  14. Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2020).

  15. Heger, T. et al. BioScience 69, 888–899 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Mcleod, E. et al. Front. Ecol. Environ. 9, 552–560 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Hettiarachchi, M., Morrison, T. H. & McAlpine, C. Glob. Environ. Change 32, 57–66 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank S. Phang and S. Arico for helpful comments in the development of this contribution.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Peter Bridgewater & Rakhyun E. Kim

  2. Institute for Applied Ecology and Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Peter Bridgewater

Authors
  1. Peter Bridgewater
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rakhyun E. Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

P.B. and R.E.K. contributed equally to the conceptualization, writing and editing of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter Bridgewater.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

P.B. was Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention 2003–2007. R.E.K. declares no competing interests.

Additional information

Peer review information Nature Ecology & Evolution thanks Missaka Hettiarachchi for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bridgewater, P., Kim, R.E. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands at 50. Nat Ecol Evol 5, 268–270 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01392-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01392-5

  • Springer Nature Limited

This article is cited by

Search

Navigation