Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (Convention on Wetlands)

• International treaty for “the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands.
• It is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran.
• The Convention was signed on the 2nd of February, 1971.
• The 2nd of February each year is World Wetlands Day.
• The number of parties to the convention (COP) is 171.
• The Ramsar Convention Secretariat has its headquarters in Gland, Switzerland.
• Montreux Record under the Ramsar Convention is a register of wetland sites on the List of Wetlands of International Importance.
• Currently, two wetlands of India are in Montreux record: Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan) and Loktak Lake (Manipur).
• Chilika Lake (Odisha) was placed in the record but was later removed from it.
• The United Kingdom has the world’s largest number of Ramsar sites i.e 175.
• List of Ramsar sites in India.