Ramsar Convention

Ramsar Sites are wetlands of international importance that have been designated under the criteria of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands for containing representative, rare or unique wetland types or for their importance in conserving biological diversity.

Convention summary

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (‘Ramsar Convention’ or ‘Wetlands Convention’) was adopted in Ramsar, Iran in February 1971 and came into force in December 1975. It provides the only international mechanism for protecting sites of global importance and is thus of key conservation significance.

The Convention covers all aspects of wetland conservation and ‘wise use’. It has three main 'pillars' of activity:

• the designation of wetlands of international importance as Ramsar Sites;
• the promotion of the wise use of all wetlands in the territory of each country; and
• international co-operation with other countries to further the wise use of wetlands and their resources.

Current details of Contracting Parties to the Convention, and the number and extent of Ramsar Sites designated globally, are available from the Ramsar website.

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Implementation in the UK, Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies

The UK ratified the Ramsar Convention and designated its first Ramsar Sites in 1976. The UK's ratification also extends to its Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, within which the first Ramsar Site was designated in 1990. While the initial emphasis was on selecting sites of importance to waterbirds, now non-bird features are increasingly taken into account, both in the selection of new sites and when reviewing existing sites.

The designation of UK Ramsar Sites has generally been underpinned through prior notification of these areas as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) (or Areas of Special Scientific Interest (ASSIs) in Northern Ireland). Accordingly, these receive statutory protection under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 (as amended), the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 (as amended) and the Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 (as amended). Government and the devolved administrations have also issued policy statements relating to Ramsar Sites which extend to them the same protection at a policy level as Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas.

JNCC provides scientific advice to the UK statutory nature conservation agencies (or the relevant administration in the case of Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies) to support the proposal and designation of Ramsar Sites. JNCC also participates in delegations to national and international Ramsar meetings; assists Government with the harmonisation of Ramsar procedures worldwide; and co-ordinates the production of the UK's national report to the triennial Conferences of the Parties to Ramsar.

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Ramsar Site network summary

Designated Ramsar Sites as of 22 May 2018.

UK Country / Overseas Territory / Crown Dependency		No. of sites	Area (ha)
	England	68	320,648
	England / Scotland	1	43,637
	England / Wales	3	40,553
	Northern Ireland	20	88,152
	Scotland	50	283,083
	Wales	7	11,366
Overseas Territory	Anguilla	1	1,051
	Bermuda	7	36
	British Indian Ocean Territory	1	35,424
	British Virgin Islands	1	1,071
	Cayman Islands	1	82
	Falkland Islands	2	4,747
	Tristan da Cunha	2	133,024
	Turks and Caicos	1	58,617
	Western Sovereign Base Area of Cyprus	1	2,171
Crown Dependency	Bailiwick of Guernsey	4	16,708
	Isle of Man	1	193
	Jersey	4	18,756
Total	United Kingdom	175	1,059,319

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Latest changes to UK network of Ramsar Sites

EU Code	Site Name	Country	Changes	Date
UK45006	Sombrero Island Nature Reserve Marine Park	OT	New site	22/05/2018
UK22003	Herm, Jethou and The Humps	CD	New site	19/10/2015
UK11042	Mersey Narrows and North Wirral Foreshore	E	New site	05/07/2013
UK11083	Upper Nene Valley Gravel Pits	E	New site	07/04/2011
UK11082	The Dee Estuary	E / W	Site extended	10/12/2009
UK53001	Gough Island	OT	New site	01/07/2008
UK53002	Inaccessible Island	OT	New site	28/06/2008
UK22004	Gouliot Caves and Headland	CD	New site	09/04/2007
UK12017	Magheraveely Marl Loughs	NI	New site	07/02/2007
UK11031	Humber Estuary	E	Site extended	31/08/2007
UK21001	The Ballaugh Curragh, Isle of Man	CD	New site	06/09/2006
UK22001	Lihou Island and L'Erée Headland, Guernsey	CD	New site	01/03/2006
UK22002	Alderney West Coast and the Burhou Islands	CD	New site	25/08/2005
UK11067	Stour and Orwell Estuaries	E	Boundary extension	19/05/2005
UK23003	Les Écréhous & Les Dirouilles, Jersey	CD	New site	02/02/2005
UK23002	Les Minquiers, Jersey	CD	New site	02/02/2005
UK23004	Les Pierres de Lecq (the Paternosters), Jersey	CD	New site	02/02/2005

(E – England; NI – Northern Ireland; S – Scotland; W – Wales; OT – Overseas Territory; CD – Crown Dependency)

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Ramsar Sites information

JNCC maintains information for all Ramsar Sites in the UK.

A list of UK Ramsar Sites is available, which includes the sites in the four countries of the UK, and the UK's Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.  

A spreadsheet of UK Ramsar Sites and their qualifying bird species, along with other published data relevant to Ramsar Sites, and a spatial layer of Ramsar Site boundaries is available from the UK Protected Area Datasets for Download webpage.

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Ramsar reporting

As a party to the Ramsar Convention, the UK is required to submit a report the Ramsar Secretariat on the UK experience of implementing the Convention. This takes place every three years ahead of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention.

The latest UK Ramsar National Report was submitted to the Ramsar Secretariat in December 2021. Earlier versions of the UK National Reports are available via the Ramsar Convention website (see Key documents).

 

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