What is Ramsar?
The international Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is a cooperative, non-regulatory means of wetlands protection. In 1971, a convention was held in Ramsar, Iran, to ratify terms of an agreement that obligated Parties to the agreement to:
- designate sites as Wetlands of International Importance ("Ramsar sites");
- apply a "wise use" concept to all wetlands within a Party’s territory; and
- engage in international cooperation.
Worldwide, more than 160 countries, including the United States, are Parties to the Convention. More than 1,968 sites comprising 470 million acres have been designated as Wetlands of International Importance, including the Okavango Delta in Botswana, the Everglades in south Florida, and the Pantanal in Brazil. While the United Kingdom has designated 166 sites and Mexico 112, the Unites States has designated just 30 sites totaling over 3 million acres. Wisconsin boasts two listed Wetland of International Importance: Horicon Marsh in Dodge County (designated in 1990) and the Upper Mississippi River Floodplain Marshes (designated in 2010).
The U.S. National Ramsar Committee is committed to increasing the number of designated Ramsar sites in the United States in recognition of our nation’s wealth of wetlands. As a member of the U.S. National Ramsar Committee, WWA is likewise committed to seeing more of Wisconsin’s deserving wetlands designated under the Ramsar Convention.
How Does a Wetland Get Nominated for Ramsar Designation?
The international governing body for Ramsar has developed a formal nominating process to document scientific, historical, and cultural information about nominated sites, to define a site’s boundaries through maps, and to document community support for the designation. Letters of support are required from the local or state wildlife or natural resources agency, one member of congress, and all landowners within the site boundaries. Nominations for sites in the US must be reviewed and approved by the US Fish & Wildlife Service before they are submitted to the international Ramsar body.
Wisconsin Ramsar Committee
WWA believes that bringing international recognition to more of our state’s wetland treasures will help raise public awareness about the value of all wetlands. We are leading a statewide effort to conduct a strategic, scientifically-based process for identifying and nominating wetland sites in Wisconsin for Ramsar designation.
In 2009, WWA convened the Wisconsin Ramsar Committee, which is made up of wetland partners from various agencies and organizations, including The Nature Conservancy, USFWS, USDA-NRCS, and Wisconsin DNR. The committee was tasked with selecting 6-10 sites that are top statewide priorities for future nomination as Wetlands of International Importance. From this priority list, the committee selected three sites and is helping to form nomination committees to put together nomination materials for Ramsar designation The top ranked priority site, the Kakagon and Bad River Sloughs, owned and managed by the Bad River Ban of Lake Superior Chippewa, was designated a Wetland of International Importance in February 2012 and is being highlited in celebration of the milestone of designating 2000 Ramsar sites around the globe.
The Wisconsin Ramsar Committee drew on work done by WWA as part of our Wetland Gems™ program to select priority sites for nomination. Wisconsin’s Wetland Gems™ were selected to collectively represent the diversity of wetland types in each geographical region of Wisconsin. The list of Wetland Gems™ recognizes and builds upon the results of several other extensive conservation planning projects that have identified critical habitats. Click here to read more about our Wetland Gems™ program and site selection process.
Wisconsin Wetlands Association staff presented on this project as part of a special Symposium on the Ramsar Convention at the joint Society of Wetland Scientists-Wisconsin Wetlands Association-Wetland Biogeochemistry Symposium conference in Madison in June 2009. The National Wetlands Newsletter (published by Environmental Law Institute) published a guest column by WWA Outreach Programs Director Katie Beilfuss in 2010 about Wisconsin's strategic approach for Ramsar nominations (click here for a pdf of this Communications column).
If you are interested in learning more about WWA’s efforts to nominate more of Wisconsin’s worthy wetlands as Wetlands of International Importance, contact Katie Beilfuss at programs[at]wisconsinwetlands.org or 608-250-9971.
Wisconsin Wetlands Association (WWA) is proud to be leading a statewide initiative to identify and nominate wetland sites in Wisconsin for designation as Wetlands of International Importance (or "Ramsar site") under the international Ramsar Convention on Wetlands - an initiative that was recognized with a 
Benefits of Ramsar Designation