Development of the text of the Ramsar Convention: 1965–1971
David A. Stroud
A , Nick C. Davidson B C , C. Max Finlayson C D E G and Royal C. Gardner C F
A Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Monkstone House, City Road, Peterborough, PE1 1JY, UK.
B Nick Davidson Environmental, Queens House, Ford Street, Wigmore, HR6 9UN, UK.
C Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW 2640, Australia.
D School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia.
E IHE Delft, Institute for Water Education, PO Box 3015, NL-2601 DA Delft, Netherlands.
F Stetson University College of Law, Gulfport, FL 33707, USA.
G Corresponding author. Email: colin_maxwell.finlayson@unsw.edu.au
Marine and Freshwater Research 73(10) 1107-1126 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF21312
Submitted: 23 October 2021 Accepted: 15 March 2022 Published: 13 May 2022
Journal Compilation © CSIRO 2022 Open Access CC BY-NC-ND
Abstract
The ‘Ramsar’ Convention on Wetlands was the first of the modern era global biodiversity conventions and remains the only multilateral environmental agreement focused on a single group of ecosystem types. At the time of initial discussions within the wetland conservation science community in the late 1960s, its ambition was unprecedented, with no successful models to draw upon, especially with regard to novel concepts such as the modus for an ‘internationally protected site’. Drawing on previously unpublished draft texts, we track the Convention’s textual development to its ultimate agreement in 1971. During this period its geographic scope changed from an initial European to global focus, whereas core obligations related to the designation of internationally important wetlands and the provision of secretariat coordination functions were substantively developed. We present (as supplementary material) all draft texts, from 1965 to 1971, previously unavailable online.
Keywords: conservation, legislation, multilateral environmental agreement, protected areas, wetland.
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