The Ramsar Convention

Ramsar Convention

The Ramsar Convention 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,...

 (Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl

Waterfowl

Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....

 Habitat) is an international treaty

Treaty

A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...

 for the conservation

Wetland conservation

Wetland conservation is aimed at protecting and preserving areas where water exists at or near the Earth's surface, such as swamps, marshes and bogs. Wetlands cover at least six per cent of the Earth and have become a focal issue for conservation due to the ecosystem services they provide...

 and sustainable use

Sustainability and environmental management

At the global scale and in the broadest sense sustainability and environmental management involves managing the oceans, freshwater systems, land and atmosphere, according to sustainability principles....

 of wetlands. Adopted in 1971, it entered into force in 1975 and as of March 2011 has 160 Contracting Parties. Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 was the twenty-fourth party to accede, on 17 October 1980. Kushiro-shitsugen

Kushiro Shitsugen National Park

is a national park located in the east of the island of Hokkaidō, Japan. It was designated as a national park on 31 July 1987, and is the 28th and most recent of Japan's national parks. The park is known for its wetlands ecosystems....

 was the first of Japan's thirty-seven Ramsar Sites as of the tenth Conference of the Contracting Parties (2008), with protected wetlands totalling 130,027 hectares. Japan has set the objective of designating six more sites by the time of COP11 in 2012.

Ramsar Site	Prefecture	Altitude	Area	Designation	Image	National Park status	Ref.
		420m	1,318ha	2005
		80-426m	563 ha	2005
		0-20m	5,277ha	1993		N/A
		86m	65,984ha	1993
		1-4m	323 ha	2002		N/A
		1m	6,139ha	2005		N/A
		0-10m	222ha	2005		N/A
		8.6m	24ha	2008		N/A
		296m	60ha	2005		N/A
		7m	559ha	1985		N/A
		5.7m	423ha	2005		N/A
		2.5-8m	10ha	1993
		25.9m	34ha	2008		N/A
		0m	353ha	2005
		0-3m	2504ha	1993		N/A
		1000-1270m	91ha	2005
		-20-0m	574ha	2005
		3-10m	7863ha	2005
		1-2m	1607ha	1989		N/A
		-0.5m	58ha	1999		N/A
		0m	1110ha	2005
		13m	41ha	2002		N/A
		0m	157ha	2005		N/A
		0m	8043ha	2005		N/A
		0-10m	6053ha	2005		N/A
		1400-1475m	260ha	2005
		12m	39ha	2008		N/A
		1400-2356m	8711	2005
		5m	76ha	1996
		3-7m	2560ha	2005		N/A
		0.3m	7652ha	2005		N/A
		120-280m	255ha	2009		N/A
		1m	900ha	2005		N/A
		850-900m	624ha	2005
		1-5m	510ha	1991		N/A
		<10m	10ha	2005
		0m	40ha	1993		N/A

External links

• The Annotated Ramsar List: Japan
• Ramsar Sites in Japan
• Wetlands International Country Reports