World Wetlands Day celebrates the value of wetlands for humanity (and, really, ALL of the planet). Each year a new theme is chosen to raise awareness about the critical importance of wetland areas; the theme for 2017 is "Wetlands for Disaster Risk Reduction" ("to raise awareness and to highlight the vital roles of healthy wetlands in reducing the impacts of extreme events such as floods, droughts and cyclones on communities, and in helping to build resilience").
World Wetlands Day is celebrated (or starts) on this day because the Ramsar Convention was signed on this day (Feb.2) in 1971, in Ramsar, Iran.
Interested in participating this year but hearing about this too late to create or attend an event? Well, check our QuestX Calendar for other events (including Earth Day which is coming up soon) OR you could participate in the the Wetlands Youth Photo Contest (youth 18 - 25, see poster below)... or/and you can get an early start on next year's World Wetlands Day!
Here is a list of the countries/parties that have joined the Ramsar Convention, date joined, number of sites, and total area conserved. There are over 2,200 sites listed and over 530,000,000 (that's MILLION!) acres included:
~
| Country | Entry date | Ramsar sites | AREA-acres |
| Albania | Feb-96 | 4 | 242,610 |
| Algeria | Mar-84 | 50 | 7,390,950 |
| Andorra | Nov-12 | 3 | 17,000 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | Oct-05 | 1 | 8,900 |
| Argentina | Sep-92 | 22 | 13,900,680 |
| Armenia | Nov-93 | 3 | 1,219,490 |
| Australia | Dec-75 | 65 | 20,559,560 |
| Austria | Apr-83 | 23 | 308,800 |
| Azerbaijan | Sep-01 | 2 | 246,000 |
| Bahamas | Jun-97 | 1 | 81,000 |
| Bahrain | Feb-98 | 2 | 16,800 |
| Bangladesh | Sep-92 | 2 | 1,510,000 |
| Barbados | Apr-06 | 1 | 82 |
| Belarus | Aug-91 | 20 | 1,692,029.20 |
| Belgium | Jul-86 | 9 | 116,001.30 |
| Belize | Aug-98 | 2 | 58,300 |
| Benin | May-00 | 4 | 2,914,250 |
| Bhutan | Sep-12 | 2 | 630 |
| Bolivia (Plurinational State of) | Oct-90 | 11 | 36,676,380 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Mar-92 | 3 | 140,300 |
| Botswana | Apr-97 | 1 | 13,683,000 |
| Brazil | Sep-93 | 12 | 17,855,060 |
| Bulgaria | Jan-76 | 11 | 123,337.10 |
| Burkina Faso | Oct-90 | 15 | 1,612,370 |
| Burundi | Oct-02 | 4 | 194,010 |
| Cambodia | Oct-99 | 4 | 187,660 |
| Cameroon | Jul-06 | 7 | 2,043,700 |
| Canada | May-81 | 37 | 32,338,120 |
| Cape Verde | Nov-05 | 4 | 1,320 |
| Central African Republic | Apr-06 | 2 | 930,000 |
| Chad | Oct-90 | 6 | 30,653,590 |
| Chile | Nov-81 | 13 | 893,930 |
| China | Jul-92 | 49 | 10,162,019.90 |
| Colombia | Oct-98 | 6 | 1,751,196.10 |
| Comoros | Jun-95 | 3 | 39,600 |
| Congo | Oct-98 | 13 | 33,998,589.20 |
| Costa Rica | Apr-92 | 12 | 1,407,860 |
| Côte d'Ivoire | Jun-96 | 6 | 314,670 |
| Croatia | Jun-91 | 5 | 233,160 |
| Cuba | Aug-01 | 6 | 2,936,630 |
| Cyprus | Nov-01 | 1 | 2,740 |
| Czech Republic | Jan-93 | 14 | 148,770 |
| Democratic Republic of Congo | May-96 | 3 | 18,373,830 |
| Denmark | Jan-78 | 43 | 5,721,440 |
| Djibouti | Mar-03 | 1 | 7,400 |
| Dominican Republic | Sep-02 | 4 | 333,831.00 |
| Ecuador | Jan-91 | 18 | 708,330 |
| Egypt | Sep-88 | 4 | 1,026,800 |
| El Salvador | May-99 | 7 | 512,460 |
| Equatorial Guinea | Oct-03 | 3 | 340,000 |
| Estonia | Jul-94 | 17 | 753,120 |
| Fiji | Aug-06 | 1 | 1,520 |
| Finland | Dec-75 | 49 | 1,975,650 |
| France | Dec-86 | 44 | 8,815,199.00 |
| Gabon | Apr-87 | 9 | 6,964,590 |
| Gambia | Jan-97 | 3 | 77,210 |
| Georgia | Jun-97 | 2 | 85,200 |
| Germany | Jun-76 | 34 | 2,145,430 |
| Ghana | Jun-88 | 6 | 435,237.80 |
| Greece | Dec-75 | 10 | 404,020 |
| Grenada | Sep-12 | 1 | 1,280 |
| Guatemala | Oct-90 | 7 | 1,553,280 |
| Guinea | Mar-93 | 16 | 15,870,000 |
| Guinea-Bissau | May-90 | 4 | 2,939,647.60 |
| Honduras | Oct-93 | 9 | 667,740 |
| Hungary | Aug-79 | 29 | 634,930 |
| Iceland | Apr-78 | 6 | 317,940 |
| India | Feb-82 | 26 | 1,702,880 |
| Indonesia | Aug-92 | 7 | 3,392,700 |
| Iran (Islamic Republic of) | Dec-75 | 24 | 3,673,070 |
| Iraq | Feb-08 | 4 | 1,329,000 |
| Ireland | Mar-85 | 45 | 165,550 |
| Israel | Mar-97 | 2 | 900 |
| Italy | Apr-77 | 52 | 148,810 |
| Jamaica | Feb-98 | 4 | 93,520 |
| Japan | Oct-80 | 50 | 365,720 |
| Jordan | May-77 | 1 | 18,220 |
| Kazakhstan | May-07 | 10 | 8,108,510 |
| Kenya | Oct-90 | 6 | 655,940 |
| Kiribati | Aug-13 | 1 | 2,550 |
| Kuwait | Sep-15 | 1 | 125,900 |
| Kyrgyzstan | Mar-03 | 3 | 1,678,850 |
| Lao People's Democratic Republic | Oct-10 | 2 | 36,500 |
| Latvia | Nov-95 | 6 | 371,440 |
| Lebanon | Aug-99 | 4 | 2,660 |
| Lesotho | Nov-04 | 1 | 1,070 |
| Liberia | Nov-03 | 5 | 236,920 |
| Libya | Aug-00 | 2 | 210 |
| Liechtenstein | Dec-91 | 1 | 250 |
| Lithuania | Dec-93 | 7 | 162,050 |
| Luxembourg | Aug-98 | 2 | 42,530 |
| Madagascar | Jan-99 | 10 | 3,330,063 |
| Malawi | Mar-97 | 1 | 555,000 |
| Malaysia | Mar-95 | 6 | 331,510 |
| Mali | Sep-87 | 4 | 10,389,900 |
| Malta | Jan-89 | 2 | 40 |
| Marshall Islands | Nov-04 | 2 | 173,270 |
| Mauritania | Feb-83 | 4 | 3,066,000 |
| Mauritius | Sep-01 | 3 | 990 |
| Mexico | Nov-86 | 142 | 21,358,750.10 |
| Monaco | Dec-97 | 1 | 57 |
| Mongolia | Apr-98 | 11 | 3,557,200 |
| Montenegro | Jun-96 | 2 | 49,800 |
| Morocco | Oct-80 | 24 | 672,200 |
| Mozambique | Dec-04 | 2 | 11,205,910 |
| Myanmar | Mar-05 | 2 | 143,922.50 |
| Namibia | Dec-95 | 5 | 1,671,830 |
| Nepal | Apr-88 | 10 | 149,650 |
| Netherlands | Sep-80 | 54 | 2,233,168 |
| New Zealand | Dec-76 | 6 | 137,170 |
| Nicaragua | Nov-97 | 9 | 1,005,350 |
| Niger | Aug-87 | 12 | 10,669,690 |
| Nigeria | Feb-01 | 11 | 2,660,650 |
| Norway | Dec-75 | 63 | 2,198,010 |
| Oman | Aug-13 | 1 | 264 |
| Pakistan | Nov-76 | 19 | 3,320,170 |
| Palau | Feb-03 | 1 | 1,200 |
| Panama | Nov-90 | 5 | 454,650 |
| Papua New Guinea | Jul-93 | 2 | 1,470,090 |
| Paraguay | Oct-95 | 6 | 1,942,200 |
| Peru | Mar-92 | 13 | 16,763,730 |
| Philippines | Nov-94 | 6 | 381,550 |
| Poland | Mar-78 | 13 | 358,490 |
| Portugal | Mar-81 | 31 | 327,380 |
| Republic of Korea | Jul-97 | 21 | 46,020 |
| Republic of Moldova | Oct-00 | 3 | 234,020 |
| Romania | Sep-91 | 19 | 2,857,650 |
| Russian Federation | Feb-77 | 35 | 25,510,580 |
| (ratified as Soviet Union) | |||
| Rwanda | Apr-06 | 1 | 0 |
| Saint Lucia | Jun-02 | 2 | 210 |
| Samoa | Feb-05 | 1 | 1,200 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | Dec-06 | 1 | 57 |
| Senegal | Nov-77 | 5 | 247,090 |
| Serbia | Apr-92 | 10 | 157,950 |
| (ratified as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) | |||
| Seychelles | Mar-05 | 3 | 108,790 |
| Sierra Leone | Apr-00 | 1 | 730,000 |
| Slovakia | Jan-93 | 14 | 100,560 |
| Slovenia | Jun-91 | 3 | 20,270 |
| South Africa | Dec-75 | 22 | 1,373,110 |
| South Sudan | Oct-13 | 1 | 14,000,000 |
| Spain | Sep-82 | 74 | 749,000 |
| Sri Lanka | Oct-90 | 6 | 489,690 |
| Sudan | May-05 | 3 | 6,152,000 |
| Suriname | Nov-85 | 1 | 30,000 |
| Swaziland | Jun-13 | 3 | 0 |
| Sweden | Dec-75 | 66 | 1,610,340 |
| Switzerland | May-76 | 11 | 36,290 |
| Syrian Arab Republic | Jul-98 | 1 | 25,000 |
| Tajikistan | Nov-01 | 5 | 234,000 |
| Thailand | Sep-98 | 14 | 987,710 |
| Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | Sep-91 | 2 | 53,410 |
| Togo | Nov-95 | 4 | 2,991,000 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Apr-93 | 3 | 39,340 |
| Tunisia | Mar-81 | 41 | 2,076,580 |
| Turkey | Nov-94 | 14 | 455,880 |
| Turkmenistan | Jul-09 | 1 | 660,080 |
| Uganda | Jul-88 | 12 | 1,122,610 |
| Ukraine | Dec-91 | 33 | 1,840,070 |
| United Arab Emirates | Dec-07 | 5 | 50,110 |
| United Kingdom | May-76 | 170 | 3,160,290 |
| United Republic of Tanzania | Aug-00 | 4 | 12,030,140 |
| United States of America | Dec-86 | 38 | 4,598,040.00 |
| Uruguay | Sep-84 | 3 | 1,076,980 |
| Uzbekistan | Feb-02 | 2 | 1,380,000 |
| Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) | Nov-88 | 5 | 651,460 |
| Viet Nam | Jan-89 | 8 | 291,120 |
| Yemen | Feb-08 | 1 | 1,400 |
| Zambia | Dec-91 | 8 | 9,960,000 |
| Zimbabwe | May-13 | 7 | 577,718.40 |
No comments:
Post a Comment