A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,^[1] also known as "The Convention on Wetlands", an international environmental treaty signed on 2 February 1971 in Ramsar, Iran, under the auspices of UNESCO. It came into force on 21 December 1975, when it was ratified by a sufficient number of nations. It provides for national action and international cooperation regarding the conservation of wetlands, and wise sustainable use of their resources.^[1] Ramsar identifies wetlands of international importance, especially those providing waterfowl habitat.

As of November 2023^[update], there are 2,500 Ramsar sites around the world, protecting 257,106,360 hectares (635,323,700 acres), and 172 national governments are participating.^[1]

The non-profit organisation Wetlands International provides access to the Ramsar database via the Ramsar Sites Information Service.^[2]

A wetland can be considered internationally important if any of the following nine criteria apply:^[3]

• Criterion 1: "it contains a representative, rare, or unique example of a natural or near-natural wetland type found within the appropriate biogeographic region."
• Criterion 2: "it supports vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered species or threatened ecological communities."
• Criterion 3: "it supports populations of plant and/or animal species important for maintaining the biological diversity of a particular biogeographic region."
• Criterion 4: "it supports plant and/or animal species at a critical stage in their life cycles, or provides refuge during adverse conditions."
• Criterion 5: "it regularly supports 20,000 or more waterbirds."
• Criterion 6: "it regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of waterbird."
• Criterion 7: "it supports a significant proportion of indigenous fish subspecies, species or families, life-history stages, species interactions and/or populations that are representative of wetland benefits and/or values and thereby contributes to global biological diversity."
• Criterion 8: "it is an important source of food for fishes, spawning ground, nursery and/or migration path on which fish stocks, either within the wetland or elsewhere, depend."
• Criterion 9: "it regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of wetland-dependent non-avian animal species."

The Ramsar Classification System for Wetland Type is a wetland classification developed within the Ramsar Convention intended as a means for fast identification of the main types of wetlands for the purposes of the Convention.^[4]

• Saline water:
  • Permanent:
    • (A) Permanent shallow marine waters: Less than 6m deep at low tide; including sea bays and straits
    • (B) Marine subtidal aquatic beds: Underwater vegetation; including kelp beds and sea grass beds, and tropical marine meadows
    • (C) Coral reefs
  • Shores:
    • (D) Rocky marine shores
    • (E) Sand, shingle or pebble shores
• Saline or brackish water:
  • Intertidal:
    • (G) Intertidal mud, sand or salt flats
    • (H) Intertidal marshes
    • (I) Intertidal forested wetlands
  • Lagoons:
    • (J) Coastal brackish/saline lagoons
  • Estuarine waters:
    • (F) Estuarine waters
• Saline, brackish, or fresh water:
  • Subterranean:
    • (Zk(a)) Karst and other Subterranean hydrological systems
• Fresh water:
  • Lagoons:
    • (K) Coastal freshwater lagoons

• Fresh water:
  • Flowing water:
    • Permanent:
      • Permanent inland river deltas (L)
      • Permanent rivers/creeks/streams (M)
        • Freshwater springs, oases (Y)
    • Seasonal/intermittent rivers/creeks/streams (N)
  • Lakes/pools:
    • Permanent >8 ha (O)
    • Permanent < 8 ha(Tp)
    • Seasonal / Intermittent > 8 ha (P)
    • Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts)
  • Marshes on inorganic soils:
    • Permanent (herb dominated) (Tp)
    • Permanent / Seasonal / Intermittent (shrub dominated)(W)
    • Permanent / Seasonal / Intermittent (tree dominated) (Xf)
    • Seasonal/intermittent (herb dominated) (Ts)
  • Marshes on peat soils:
    • Permanent (non-forested)(U)
    • Permanent (forested)(Xp)
  • Marshes on inorganic or peat soils:
    • Marshes on inorganic or peat soils / High altitude (alpine) (Va)
    • Marshes on inorganic or peat soils / Tundra (Vt)
• Saline, brackish or alkaline waters:
  • Lakes
    • Permanent (Q)
    • Seasonal/intermittent (R)
  • Marshes/pools
    • Permanent (Sp)
    • Seasonal/intermittent (Ss)
• Fresh, saline, brackish or alkaline waters:
  • Geothermal (Zg)
  • Subterranean (Zk(b))

• (1): Aquaculture ponds
• (2): Ponds (farm and stock ponds, small stock tanks, or area less than 8 ha)
• (3): Irrigated land
• (4): Seasonally flooded agricultural land
• (5): Salt exploitation sites
• (6): Water Storage areas/Reservoirs
• (7): Excavations
• (8): Wastewater treatment areas
• (9): Canals and drainage channels or ditches
• (Zk(c)): human-made karst and other subterranean hydrological systems

• List of parties to the Ramsar Convention
• Montreux Record
• Ramsar sites by country
• Wetlands conservation topics

• Ramsar Sites Information Service.org: Official List of all Ramsar Sites website—via Ramsar Sites Information Service
• Ramsar Sites Information Service.org—images of Ramsar sites
• Ramsar.org: Ramsar Convention website

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