Annual Contribution to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

This activity supports an annual contribution to the Ramsar Convention, or the Convention on Wetlands, which is an intergovernmental treaty that seeks to conserve wetlands and their resources. The mission of the Ramsar Convention explicitly conceives of the conservation and wise use of wetlands as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world. Wetlands provide a range of vital ecosystem services; they deliver flood control, coastal protection, and climate change adaptation and mitigation functions, protecting the communities most at risk from floods, droughts and storm surges. They are also diverse habitats, which support biodiversity and are essential to the life cycles and migratory patterns of many species. Overall, wetlands provide food for more than three billion people worldwide and are a source of freshwater and livelihoods for over one billion people. The Ramsar Convention in pursuing the global wise use of wetlands makes a central contribution to long-term pro-poor growth and to protecting the livelihoods of the poorest. The Convention provides support to developing countries through the provision of small grants, advisory missions and funding for emergency action in threatened areas, targeted capacity building and training, and sharing of expertise from developed countries.