Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. More information is available from the website of the Ramsar Convention Bureau (www.ramsar.org).

At the start of 2018, there were 169 Contracting Parties to the Convention, committed to wise use of wetlands generally, and with 2290 wetland sites, totalling 225 million hectares, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. UK was an early member, along with some of the UKOTs and CDs. Now all UKOTs/CDs, except British Antarctic Territory, are included in UK’s ratification. (Because of the terms of the Convention, it is not appropriate for BAT, but the relevant aspects are covered by the Antactic Treaties.)

Mission Statement: “The Convention’s mission is the conservation and wise use of wetlands by national action and international cooperation as a means to achieving sustainable development throughout the world” (Brisbane, 1996). Note that the term “wise use” was used because the more modern “sustainable use” was not in play in 1971. However, the Conference of the Parties (the Convention’s governing body) has since defined “wise use” as essentially the same as environmentally sustainable use.

Review of existing and potential Ramsar Sites in UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies

This is the report by UKOTCF of a project reviewing the existing and potential Ramsar Sites in UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. This report was commissioned from UKOTCF by Defra, as part of a review of all the Ramsar Sites in domestic UK and its associated territories. Ramsar Sites are Wetlands of International Importance under the Convention on Wetlands signed at the city of Ramsar, Iran in 1971.

Parts of the report can be downloaded as pdf files, as follows.

The main text of the report is available in a short version (102 pages; 1716 kb) and a full version with more background information (152 pages; 2015 kb).

Annex 1: Updated Ramsar Information Sheets for existing sites, organised by Territory (2016 kb)

Annex 2: Draft Ramsar Information Sheets for proposed sites identified (as complete as possible in relation to any variations in the actual status of proposed sites; further information is welcome), organised by Territory (not all available on web-site at present. Note that the inclusion of a site in this list proposed by the Review does not imply a decision by the Territory concerned to progress its designation. All the RISs in this section remain as drafts until the sites to which they refer are designated as Ramsar sites. Because the state of progress towards designation differs greatly between sites, the degree of completion of various RISs will differ from very incomplete (and in some cases including notes on further queries) to virtually final in some cases where the authorities concerned have decided to ask HMG to progress with designation.)

TerritoryFile size
Introduction112kb
Isle of Man497kb
Bailiwick of Guernsey (including also Alderney and Sark)732kb
Bailiwick of Jersey143kb
Gibraltar 
Cyprus Sovereign Base Areas (no proposed further sites) 
Bermuda549kb
Cayman Islands492kb
Turks and Caicos Islands850kb
British Virgin Islands295kb
Anguilla402kb
Montserrat235kb
Ascension198kb
St Helena330kb
Tristan da Cunha514kb
Falkland Islands1700kb
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands231kb
British Antarctic Territory (not in Ramsar Convention) 
British Indian Ocean Territory163kb
Pitcairn Islands439kb
 
 

Annex 3:
Maps for existing Ramsar Sites, improved where appropriate and practicable, in the same sequence as in Annex 1:

Ramsar codeSite nameTerritoryFile size
 Overview of designated Jersey sitesJersey480kb
UK23001South East Coast of Jersey, Channel IslandsJersey883kb
UK23002Les MinquiersJersey597kb
UK23003 & UK23004Les Écréhous & Les Dirouilles; and Les Pierres de Lecq (the Paternosters)Jersey673kb
UK32001AkrotiriWestern Sovereign Base Area of Cyprus374kb
UK41002Hungry Bay Mangrove SwampBermuda2.3Mb
UK41003Lover’s Lake Nature ReserveBermuda1.1Mb
UK41004Paget MarshBermuda1.4Mb
UK41005Pembroke Marsh EastBermuda2.3Mb
UK41006Somerset Long Bay PondBermuda2.3Mb
UK41007Spittal PondBermuda1.4Mb
UK41010Warwick PondBermuda1.4Mb
UK42001Booby Pond and RookeryCayman Islands212kb
UK43001North, Middle and East Caicos Islands – map 1: full areaTurks and Caicos549kb
 – map 2: detail: western North Caicos 466kb
 – map 3: detail: central North Caicos 308kb
 – map 4: detail: North/Middle Caicos 285kb
 – map 5: detail: western Middle Caicos 284kb
 – map 6: detail: eastern Middle Caicos 300kb
   map 7: detail: western East Caicos 288kb
UK44003Western Salt Ponds of AnegadaWest British Virgin Islands381kb
UK54001Bertha’s BeachFalkland Islands544kb
UK54005Sea Lion IslandFalkland Islands441kb
UK61002Diego GarciaBritish Indian Ocean Territory2.1Mb

Annex 4: Maps for proposed Ramsar Sites identified (as complete as possible in relation to any variations in the actual status of proposed sites), in the same sequence as in Annex 2.

Note that the inclusion of a site in this list proposed by the Review does not imply a decision by the Territory concerned to progress its designation. All the maps in this section remain as drafts until the sites to which they refer are designated as Ramsar sites. Because the state of progress towards designation differs greatly between sites, the degree of completion of various maps will differ from very incomplete to virtually final in some cases where the authorities concerned have decided to ask HMG to progress with designation.

Ramsar codeSite nameTerritoryFile size
UK21001The Ballaugh CurraghIsle of Man438kb
UK21002The AyresIsle of Man395kb
UK21003Southern Coasts & Calf of Man – northern partIsle of Man429kb
 – western part 476kb
 – southwestern part 377kb
 – southeastern part 418kb
UK21004Central Valley CurraghIsle of Man529kb
UK21005Gob ny rona, Maughold Head & Port CornaaIsle of Man463kb
UK21006Dalby PeatlandsIsle of Man515kb
UK22001Lihou Island & L’Eree HeadlandGuernsey440kb
UK22002Alderney West Coast & the Burhou IslandsGuernsey (Alderney)398kb
UK22003North Herm and Les AmfrocquesGuernsey280kb
UK22004Gouliot CavesGuernsey (Sark)222kb
UK22005Vicheries Orchid Fiel/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/22005vicheries2a.pdfds at Rocquaine BayGuernsey998kb
UK23005St Ouen’s Bay and Les MiellesJersey998kb
UK31001Bay of GibraltarGibraltar 
UK41001Devonshire Marsh East and West BasinsBermuda13.3Mb
UK41008Trott’s Pond and Mangrove LakeBermuda1.3Mb
UK41012Walsingham Formation – Karst and CavesBermuda2.2Mb
UK41013Harrington Sound and NotchBermuda1.8Mb
UK41014Reef areasBermuda2.9Mb
UK41015Castle Bay Islands and reefBermuda954kb
UK42004Central Mangrove Wetland, Little Sound, Ponds and associated Marine ZonesCayman Islands3.6Mb
UK42005Little Cayman Crown Wetlands and Marine ParksCayman Islands1.9Mb
UK42006Salina ReserveCayman Islands188kb
UK42007Barker’s WetlandCayman Islands188kb
UK43002Grand Turk salinas, ponds and shoresTurks and Caicos Islands352kb
UK43003Salt Cay creeks and salinasTurks and Caicos Islands332kb
UK43004Turks Bank Seabird Cays
– map 1: Long, Penniston & East Cays		Turks and Caicos Islands330kb
 – map 2: Big Sand Cay 320kb
UK43005Caicos Bank Southern CaysTurks and Caicos Islands378kb
UK43006West Providenciales WetlandsTurks and Caicos Islands559kb
UK43007West Caicos saline lake and coral reef systemTurks and Caicos Islands2.3Mb
UK43008Leeward-Going-Through CaysTurks and Caicos Islands346kb
UK44000Location map for BVI sitesBritish Virgin Islands390kb
UK44004Anegada Eastern Ponds and The Horseshoe ReefBritish Virgin Islands387kb
UK44005Fat Hogs and Bar BaysBritish Virgin Islands383kb
UK45006Sombrero IslandAnguilla427kb
UK45007Dog Island & Middle CayAnguilla393kb
UK45008Prickly Pear CaysAnguilla414kb
UK45009Scrub & Little Scrub IslandsAnguilla374kb
UK45010Anguilla mainland wetlandsAnguilla440kb
UK46001Montserrat NW coasts and marine shallowsMontserrat5.2Mb
UK46002Centre Hills and forested ghautsMontserrat2.1Mb
UK51001Ascension IslandAscension Island1.9Mb
UK52001St Helena Central PeaksSt Helena890kb
UK52002St Helena inshore waters, stacks and cliffsSt Helena893kb
UK52003Fisher’s ValleySt Helena886kb
UK53000Tristan da Cunha location mapTristan da Cunha239kb
UK53001Gough IslandTristan da Cunha334kb
UK53002Inaccessible IslandTristan da Cunha396kb
UK53003Nightingale GroupTristan da Cunha306kb
UK53004Tristan IslandTristan da Cunha498kb
UK54002East Bay, Lake Sulivan and River DoyleFalkland Islands614kb
UK54004Pebble Island EastFalkland Islands468kb
UK54006Cape DolphinFalkland Islands438kb
UK54007Concordia Beach & Ponds, Limpet Creek and Cape BougainvilleFalkland Islands518kb
UK54008Seal BayFalkland Islands450kb
UK54009Volunteer PointFalkland Islands447kb
UK54010Kidney Island and Kidney CoveFalkland Islands410kb
UK54011Cape Peninsula, Stanley Common and Port HarrietFalkland Islands498kb
UK54012Swan Inlet and PondsFalkland Islands541kb
UK54013Flats Brook and Bombilla FlatsFalkland Islands615kb
UK54014Lafonia ponds and streams catchmentFalkland Islands515kb
UK54015Bull PointFalkland Islands478kb
UK54016Beauchêne IslandFalkland Islands549kb
UK54017Jason Islands GroupFalkland Islands430kb
UK54018Keppel IslandFalkland Islands465kb
UK54019Hawks Nest PondsFalkland Islands640kb
UK54020Bird IslandFalkland Islands400kb
UK54021New Island GroupFalkland Islands436kb
UK55001South GeorgiaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands283kb
UK55002South Sandwich IslandsSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands308kb
UK61004Chagos BanksBritish Indian Ocean Territory6.9Mb
UK62001Ducie IslandPitcairn Islands284kb
UK62002Henderson IslandPitcairn Islands436kb
UK62003Oeno IslandPitcairn Islands308kb
UK62004
and
UK62005		Browns Water, Pitcairn
and
Coastal waters, Pitcairn		Pitcairn Islands177kb