Classification and Inventory of Wetlands: A Global Overview Author(s): D. A. Scott and T. A. Jones Reviewed work(s): Source: Vegetatio, Vol.

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3 Printed in Belgium.

Classification

and inventory of wetlands: A global overview

GL2 7BX, UK

D.A. Scott & T.A. Jones International Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Bureau, Slimbridge, Gloucestershire

Key words: Ramsar Convention, Wetland

classification, Wetland

inventory

Abstract of wetlands is extremely problematical, definition of the term wetland being a difficult and contro Classification versial starting point. Although considerable effort has gone into the development of national and regional wetland the only attempt at establishing a global system has been under the auspices of the Ramsar Conven classifications, tion onWetlands of International Importance. In view of the fact that the Ramsar Convention has 70 Contracting it is suggested that the Convention's Parties world-wide, definition and classification system should be adopted for international purposes. Much of the world has been covered by preliminary wetland inventories, but generally there is an urgent need to extend coverage to those areas not yet included. It is essential that all inventory projects give adequate attention to meeting the real information needs of agencies and individuals which have an impact on the conservation and wise use of wetlands. Attention should also be given to providing for wide dissemination and regular updating of information and establishment of procedures for monitoring ecological change at the sites identified.

Introduction The classification and inventory of wetlands is fraught with difficulty. In fact, what is a wetland? Some parts of the world include land which may be completely dry for years, but which may nevertheless, support interna tionally important wetlands after period of exception al rainfall. Where should the line be drawn between coastal wetlands and wholly marine systems? Should
entirely man-made wetlands be given the same status

the attractive simplici descriptive text. Unfortunately, ty of this approach begins to break down when applied at an international scale. Although knowledge of the locations of the world's most important wetlands has taken great strides forward in the last fifteen years (e.g. et al. 1993) there Scott & Carbonell 1986; Whigham are still substantial areas of the globe which remain relatively uncharted. Even in areas which have been covered by preliminary wetland inventories, we lack, all too frequently, even a basic understanding of their hydrology, limnology and ecology. Compilers of wetland inventories carefully whether they are gathering are actually required for furthering and wise use of the sites which have need to examine the data sets that the conservation

as natural or semi-natural habitats? How should natural vegetational succession be covered? The delimitation the impos of a wetland site is equally problematical; of separating a wetland from its hydrological sibility support system means that it is necessary to consid er factors operating
sub-surface of the area features, under

throughout a catchment,
both upstream and

including

downstream

consideration.

Many published accounts of ly national and local inventories; Problems Foundation of Turkey avoided addressing such problems lands geographically and by using

wetlands (especial e.g. Environmental largely by classifying wet local terminology in 1989) have

been identified. The pressures which are leading to the degradation and destruction of many of the world's most impor tantwetlands have an increasingly strong international dimension (Dugan 1993). It is, therefore, imperative that information concerning the locations and values of these sites is readily available to and understood by all those involved in formulating and implementing poli cies which affect them. Finally, wetland inventories

4 of all kinds must be regularly reviewed and updated if they are not to become items of historical interest
only.

A.

B. International Many wetland classification C.

countries have national or regional wetland ter that is not understood internationally. For minology scientists could confi example, how many wetland dently and correctly assign a geographical region and accurate meaning to all of the following wetland types, each of which is used commonly in one or more parts of the world: vlei lochan turfmoor rhyne valle hammock turlough qa jheel All of these terms have precise meanings which can use rarely be translated into another language through a single word. Usually, a short phrase is required, of internationally understood terms such as employing or 'floodplain', together with qualifying state 'lagoon'
covering, for example, seasonality, vegetation,

To provde readily understood terminology for use in scientific research and conservation projects with an international dimension. To provide a framework for implementing interna tional legal instruments for wetland conservation. To assist international dissemination of informa tion to as many relevant individuals and organisa tions as possible.

Whilst recognizing the technical and scientific benefits of establishing certain common standards and terms for describing wetlands, the rich cultural and linguistic It heritage of wetland areas must not be overlooked. would surely be a case of 'killing the goose that laid the golden Qgg' if, in our quest for harmonisation and synthesis we jeopardised the continuing existence of uniqueness and diversity, or risked alienating the local people responsible for day-to-day stewardship of the
world's wetlands.

rybnik

it is elaborating a wetland classification, to adopt a definition of the term 'wetland'. necessary the most widely used and accept Internationally, is the one provided by the Conven ed definition Before tion on Wetlands
referred to as the

of International
'Ramsar'

Importance,
after

usually
the Ira

Convention

ments

salinity and human impacts. An increasing number of countries have established some kind of national wetland classification, usually in association with the development of national wet land inventories (e.g. Silvius et al 1987). By defi tend to focus on nition, these national classifications the unique characteristics of a country's wetlands and are therefore of limited use for international applica tions. The evolution of a national wetland classifica tion is determined by many factors, but the geograph ical location of a country immediately determines that some wetland types common elsewhere in the world are likely to be excluded (to take an extreme exam in Canada, but equally, ple, there are no mangroves there are no tundra wetlands in Indonesia). However, in spite of the large and increasing volume of inter national wetland research and conservation activities, there have been few attempts to produce international wetland classifications. The purposes and values of international wetland classifications can be summarised as follows:

nian town of Ramsar where the treaty was adopted in 1971 (Matthews 1993). Almost 80 countries, from all regions of the world, are now Contracting Parties to the Convention (see Table 1) and have therefore accepted the following definition for international purposes:
'... wetlands water, whether are areas natural of marsh, of artificial, fen, peatland permanent or or

temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed
six metres.'

The rationale behind the very broad Ramsar def to embrace all from a desire inition stemmed water birds; the 'wetland' habitats of migratory the full title of the treaty is, after all, Con vention on Wetlands Importance of International as Waterfowl Habitat (Matthews especially 1993). Hence, the inclusion of areas of marine water less than six metres deep at low tide, which, at north ern latitudes, are often important wintering habitats for loons (divers), grebes and sea ducks; and the inclusion
of man-made wetlands such as reservoirs and season

ally flooded agricultural land, which are often impor tant habitats for ducks, geese, cranes and shorebirds. Inevitably, however, a definition as broad as this has created problems. All areas of rice cultivation would

Table 1. Contracting

parties

to the Ramsar Convention Date Convention came into force 21.12.75 21.12.75 21.12.75 21.12.75 21.12.75 21.12.75 21.12.75 24.01.76 5.05.76 16.05.76 26.06.76 23.11.76 13.12.76 11.02.77 14.04.77 10.05.77 28.07.77 11.11.77 2.01.78 22.03.78 2.04.78 11.08.79 23.09.80 17.10.80 20.10.80 24.03.81 24.03.81 15.05.81 27.11.81 1.02.82 4.09.82 22.02.83 16.04.83 4.03.84 22.09.84 15.03.85 22.11.85 4.07.86 4.11.86 1.12.86 18.04.87 30.04.87 30.08.87 25.09.87 17.04.88 22.06.88 4.07.86 1.12.86 18.12.86 30.12.86 30.04.87 25.05.87 17.12.87 22.02.88 15.11.84 15.05.85 3.12.82 8.02.84 11.06.86 28.08.86 12.10.83 26.06.87 3.10.85 15.05.87 18.12.84 2.06.83 14.02.85 9.03.84 27.05.87 31.05.89 18.12.92 Date Paris Protocol applied 12.08.83 15.05.84 3.12.82 3.05.84 26.05.83 29.04.86 2.06.88 27.02.86 19.04.84 30.05.84 13.01.83 13.08.85 9.02.87 11.02.92 27.07.87 15.03.84

July 1993. Date Regina amendments accepted1 25.07.90 27.03.90 20.01.89 6.04.89 14.02.92 Number wetlands designated 40 11 14 30 12 18 22.05.92 21.06.90 27.06.90 9.06.89 21.06.90 20.09.88 07.07.93 11.02.92 11 4 63 8 31 9 5 3 46 1 2 4 38 5 18.06.93 20.09.90 19.11.91 2.06.88 2 13 21 9 4 26.01.93 1 2 8.11.88 31 1 6 26 1 18.12.93 7 2 1 28.08.90 21 1 6 2.11.92 1 8 12 3 1 3 1 6 of Area wetlands (hectares) 4,510,468 101,343 16,256 382,750 228,344 1,357,550 107,400 2,097 274,883 7,049 672,852 20,990 38,099 1,168,000 56,950 7,372 18,094 99,720 1,832,968 7,141 57,500 114,862 314,928 83,454 10,580 12,600 30,563 13,020,203 4,877 192,973 122,418 1,173,000 102,541 4,900 435,000 13,035 12,000 7,945 47,840 425,585 1,194,001 1,080,000 220,000 162,000 17,500 178,410 of

Country 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. New Russian Australia Finland Norway Sweden South Africa Islamic Rep. Iran

Greece Bulgaria UK Switzerland Germany Pakistan Zealand

Federation Italy Jordan Yugoslavia Senegal Denmark Poland Iceland Hungary Netherlands Japan Morocco Tunisia Portugal Canada Chile India Spain Mauritania Austria Algeria Uruguay Ireland Suriname Belgium Mexico France

USA
Gabon Niger Mali Nepal Ghana

Table 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79.

1. Continued. Uganda 4.07.88 9.09.88 23.11.88 20.01.89 30.01.89 14.05.90 5.10.90 13.10.90 15.10.90 26.10.90 27.10.90 27.10.90 26.11.90 7.01.91 25.06.91 25.06.91 21.09.91 6.12.91 28.12.91 30.03.92 27.04.92 31.07.92 8.08.92 4.09.92 21.09.92 1.01.93 1.01.93 18.03.93 21.04.93 16.07.93 24.09.93 9.10.93 23.10.93 21.05.91 6.08.91 28.08.91 30.03.92 27.12.91 31.03.92 8.04.92 4.05.92 21.05.92 1.01.93 1.01.93 18.11.92 21.12.92 16.03.93 24.05.93 9.06.93 23.06.93 21.12.92 21.05.92 8.04.92 6.08.91 4.03.88 9.09.88 23.11.88 20.09.88 30.09.88 14.05.90 5.06.90 13.06.90 15.06.90 26.06.90 27.06.90 27.06.90 26.11.90 7.09.90 15,000 105,700 9,968 12,000 11 39,098 18,800 195,000 6,216 48,372 5.240 299,200 97,179 90,137 80,455

Egypt
Venezuela Viet Nam Malta Guinea-Bissau Kenya Chad Sri Lanka Guatemala Bolivia Burkina Faso

Panama Ecuador Croatia Slovenia Romania Liechtenstein Zambia Peru Costa Rica China Indonesia Argentina Bangladesh Czech Republic

650
647,000

101
333,000 2,415,691 30,269 586,870 162,700 82,474 59,600 18,109 25,519 264,109 6,234 590,000 168,400 51,976 8,500 1,819,185

Slovak Republic Guinea Trinidad & Tobago Papua New Guinea Brazil Armenia Honduras former USSR

623
1 For an explanation of the Paris Protocol and Regina Information supplied by the Ramsar Database. Amendments, see Matthews

38,202,706 1993.

technically qualify as wetlands,

are of scarcely any conservation

though most
value.

such areas
a

Similarly,

large part of the world's coral reefs and sea-grass beds If coral reefs are to be included, qualify as wetlands. the definition should embrace all such systems, perhaps rather than only those above the six metres limit. At a national level, many countries have adopted narrower definitions; for example, some countries do
not consider large rivers or water storage reservoirs as

the Convention and, in doing so, accept the definition for at least international purposes. One of the first international wetland classifica tions was employed by Scott (1980) in A Preliminary Inventory of Wetlands of International Importance for Waterfowl inWest Europe and Northwest Africa. Cor respondents in each country were asked to complete a simple datasheet for each site, indicating which of 25 habitat types was present within the site. The classifi cation was based on work being undertaken in Paris on in relation to the behalf of the European Community then fledgling Community-wide Directive on the Con

wetlands.
tional

the Ramsar definition is increas However, the basis for both national and interna ingly providing
inventories, as more and more countries ratify

Table

2a.

Classification Wetlands

Neotropical 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

of wetland type used (Scott & Carbonell 1986).

in the Directory

of

Table 2b. Classification Asian Wetlands 01 02 shallow estuaries, (Scott

of wetland 1989a).

type used

in the Directory

of

shallow estuaries,

sea bays and straits deltas islands, islets

sea bays and straits (< 6 m depth at low tide) deltas islands, islets

small offshore

03 04 05 06 lagoons & marshes, forest (lower perennial) (upper perennial) riverine marshes (lacustrine) (palustrine) salt pans 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15

small offshore

rocky sea coasts, sea beaches

sea cliffs

(sand, pebbles) sandflats and saline brackish streams streams

rocky sea coasts, sea cliffs sea beaches (sand, pebbles) intertidal mudflats, mangrove swamps, sandflats brackish forest lagoons and marshes

intertidal mudflats, coastal brackish mangrove slow-flowing fast-flowing riverine freshwater freshwater

swamps, rivers, rivers,

coastal brackish salt pans

and saline

shrimp ponds, fish ponds rivers, rivers, oxbow streams; streams; slow-flowing fast-flowing (lower perennial) (upper perennial)

lakes (including

oxbows),

lakes and associated ponds

marshes

(< 8 ha), marshes, systems)

swamps

lakes, riverine marshes lakes and associated ponds ? marshes (lacustrine) (palustrine)

salt lakes, salars (inland reservoirs, seasonally rice paddies, swamp forest, dams flooded

freshwater freshwater

8 ha), marshes,

swamps

grassland, arable

savanna,

palm savanna land

16 17 18

salt lakes, saline marshes water storage reservoirs,

(inland drainage dams savanna,

systems)

flooded

land, irrigated flooded forest (bofedales),

temporarily

seasonally rice paddies flooded swamp

flooded

grassland,

palm savanna

peat bogs, wet Andean

meadows

snow melt

bogs

19 20 21 22

arable forest,

land, irrigated temporarily

land forest

flooded

peat bogs Bureau (1990).

Source: Ramsar Convention

servation of Wild Birds. In addition to wetlands per included certain dryland habitats se, this classification which are commonly found in association with West
ern Palearctic wetlands.

number of subsequent international wetland inventories have followed the simple type of classi fication described above. For example, the Directo ries of Neotropical Wetlands (Scott & Carbonell 1986) and Asian Wetlands (Scott 1989a) employed broad similar systems, which are reproduced below in ly Table 2. The introductions to both of these Directories include the note that, 'Although more sophisticated wetland classification systems are available, the infor mation was seldom adequate to permit amore detailed
breakdown, and in any case for many of the enormous

controversial) level rather than on broader generic categories. This can result in a classification which is partly (or even mostly) irrelevant to the level of information available from much of the world. During the late 1980s, the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention recognised the need for establish ing a database to hold information on those wetlands designated under Article 2.1 of the treaty for the Ram sar List of Wetlands of International Importance. In connection with setting up a database, the Contracting Parties also charged the Ramsar Bureau with establish ing a wetland information sheet and classification of wetland type aimed at standardising the data gathered
for each Ramsar site.

ly the most

wetlands described in the Directory, a detailed classi fication of habitat types would be extremely cumber
some'.

the limitations, in terms of both quan Recognizing and quality, of data available for many countries tity is fundamental to the construction of an international In the development of hierar wetland classification. chical classifications, there is always a temptation to focus debate on the most detailed (and hence, usual

In 1990, as a result of this initiative, the Fourth Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties adopted a Recommendation approving an information sheet and hierarchical classification of wetland type (Scott 1989b) based loosely on the Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States (Cowardin et al 1979). The US classification is divid
ed into systems, sub-systems, classes and sub-classes,

together with a series of modifiers concerning water regime, water chemistry (salinity, pH) and soil. The

8 basic unit of the hierarchy is the system, of which five types are distinguished (marine, estuarine, river lacustrine and palustrine). Both the US classifica ine, tion and the version adopted for use with the Ramsar are reproduced here as Tables 3 and 4, Convention
respectively.

includes five wetland pie, the Canadian classification classes and 70 wetland forms, of which 18 are types of bog and 17 are types offen; while the Indonesian clas sification has broken down forested wetlands into six of mangrove forest and eight types of freshwater types
swamp forest.

of authors have suggested the use of highly simplified groupings of basic wetland types for use in general information and education materials. For example, Dugan (1990) has suggested that it is possible to reduce the more detailed groupings of the A number Ramsar classification
are wetlands, or where

In July 1992, the European Community published the official version of a Community-wide Directive the twelve Member States to undertake mea obliging sures which will conserve certain scarce or threatened habitats and species, as specified in Annexes to the so-called Habitats Directive Journal of the (Official 1992). Annex 1 to the Direc European Communities tive lists 'Natural habitat types of Community interest whose conservation requires the designation of Spe cial Areas of Conservation'. The classification of habi tats used is that developed during the 1980s under the Community's CORINE biotopes project. The CORINE is hierarchical with a strong phytosocio classification logical element and is extremely detailed. Thus, Annex 1 of the Habitats Directive (which, as indicated above, includes only those habitats thought to be in need of special conservation measures) includes at least 50 spe cific wetland habitat types which fall within the Ramsar it is an international classifica definition. Although it is strictly concerned with the territory of the tion, and is much too elaborate for European Community effective world-wide application.

to, 'seven landscape units which

wetlands form an important

component,
framework estuaries, es, lakes,

and which
for wetland open coasts, and

therefore define
conservation'. floodplains, swamp forest.

the planning
units marsh are

These freshwater

peatlands

The Ramsar database, which ismaintained at Slim bridge, UK by IWRB, has been in operation for approx imately 4 years, during which time habitat informa tion received from Contracting Parties concerning their designated Ramsar sites has been coded and entered into a dBaselV system. The habitat information is in conjunction with a wide range of other site stored data, from geographical coordinates to landuse. When updated material has been provided by all Contracting Parties, use of the Ramsar classification will make it coverage of the possible to analyse the Convention's wetland types, thereby allowing the identi principal fication of gaps for immediate
classification is, like all

attention. The Ramsar

a compromise.

classifications,

International

wetland

inventories

However, experience to date suggests that the Ramsar system isworkable and readily understood and we sug gest that it should be used as the basis for appropriate international projects in the future. and classification One on-going mathematical the has recently been completed; inventory project Wetlands inAustralia (Usback Directory of Important & James 1993) was published in June 1993. It was compiled using the Ramsar classification to provide specifically minor modifications which it is important to distinguish types al context. A number of other national of wetland type have been classifications system with for wetland in a nation or regional

In the course of developing an effective wetland con servation programme, one of the first steps is the com pilation of a basic inventory of wetlands (covering at least the more important and/or vulnerable sites) in the
relevant geographical area. One expression of the bur

geoning the proliferation

ries may:

interest in wetlands

in recent years has been of inventory projects. Such invento

aid identification
research, protection

of priorities

for future action the conservation compar

wet

in

elaborated; countries covered by recent publications include Cana da (National Wetlands Working Group 1987), Greece (Heliotis 1988), Indonesia (Silvius et at. 1987) and South Africa (Walmsley & Boomker 1988). Accounts of several such projects will be presented later in this volume but it isworth looking at some of the contrast that have been adopted. For exam ing classifications

and management;

establish the basis for monitoring status of wetlands; facilitate local, national isons between sites;
promote increased

and international
of/interest

awareness

in key

land sites on the part of politicians, government officials, land use planners, students and scientists.

Table 3. Hierarchy showing systems,

of wetlands subsystems

and deepwater habitats in the U.S. wetland classification (Cowardin and classes. The Palustrine system does not include deepwater habitats.

et ai,

1979),

WETLANDS AND DEEPWATER HABITATS

System Subsystem Class -Rock Bottom Unconsolidated Aquatic Reef Bed Bottom

-Subtidal Marine -

Intertidal

-Subtidal

Aquatic Bed -Reef Shore -Rocky Unconsolidated Rock Bottom Unconsolidated Aquatic Bed -Reef

Shore Bottom

-Estuarine

Intertidal -

Tidal

-Aquatic Bed -Reef - Streambed Rocky Shore Unconsolidated Shore Wetland -Emergent Scrub-Shrub Wetland -Forested Wetland Rock Bottom Unconsolidated Bottom Aquatic Bed Streambed -Rocky Shore Unconsolidated Shore Emergent Wetland Rock Bottom Bottom Unconsolidated Aquatic Bed -Rocky Shore -Unconsolidated Shore -Emergent Wetland Rock Bottom -Unconsolidated -Aquatic Bed -Rocky Shore -Unconsolidated Streambed Bottom

-Lower -Riverine

Perennial

-Upper Perennial

Bottom

Shore

- Intermittent Limnetic -Lacustrine -

-Rock Bottom -Unconsolidated Aquatic Bed

Littoral

Rock Bottom Bottom Unconsolidated -Aquatic Bed -Rocky Shore -Unconsolidated Shore -Emergent Wetland -Rock Bottom Unconsolidated Bottom Aquatic Bed -Unconsolidated Shore Moss-Lichen Wetland -Emergent Wetland -Scrub-Shrub Wetland -Forested Wetland

-Palustrine

10

Table 4. Wetland

classification

used by the Ramsar Convention -Subtidal

Bureau. -Shallow I-Aquatic Reef bed Marine marine waters

Marine n - Subtidal Estuarine - Intertidal -

aquatic beds

Intertidal

Rocky Unconsol.

Coral reefs Rocky marine shores beaches Sand/shingle -Estuarine

Marine & Coastal

waters

Unconsol. Emergent -Forested ?

Intertidal mudflats Salt marshes Mangrove, tidal forest

-Lacustrine/ Palustrine u Riverine

Permanent/ Seasonal - Perennial - Intermitid Emergent Emergent -_~

Brackish/saline Coastal fresh

lagoons lagoons

Permanent

river/stream

Inland deltas Intermittent -Floodplain river/stream wetlands

-Lacustrine

-Permanent - Seasonal ? -Permanent/ Seasonal -

Permanent Seasonal

freshwater freshwater

lakes lakes saline

Permanent/seasonal lakes and marshes

Inland

Permanent

freshwater

ponds

and marshes -Emergent -Open peat bogs, fens

-Alpine/tundra -Palustrine -Permanent - Shrub-dom -Forested ? -

wetlands

-Shrub-dominated Freshwater Peat swamp Freshwater swamp forest

swamps forest

Seasonal

-Emergent

Seasonal

springs, oases freshwater marsh

-Geothermal -Aquaculture

Geothermal wetlands Fish, shrimp ponds -Farm ponds, small tanks Irrigated land, rice fields arable Seasonally-flooded -

-Agriculture Salt exploitation

land

Man-made

Salt pans,

salines

Urban & - Industrial

Reservoirs, barrages Gravel pits Sewage farms

11 National wetland inventories date back at least as far as the early 1950s and a number of countries, particularly have now produced in Europe and North America, some kind of inventory of their wetland resources. These vary greatly in scope and depth of treatment, from simple lists of major water bodies, to compre hensive descriptions of all wetland resources in the
country concerned.

was felt that governments and conservation bodies at that time would not be able to cope with many more
sites.

With the rapid advances in knowledge of wetlands in the 1960s and early 1970s, the Aqua and MAR lists rapidly became out of date. Table 5 makes a compar ison between the number of wetlands in each country included in theMAR list, and those which, almost 30 years on, have been designated under the Ramsar Con vention. It is clear that substantial progress has been made inWestern Europe, but the situation in Eastern Europe and North Africa gives cause for some con
cern.

has this inventory work been taken to Nowhere technical lengths than in the United States. A greater major project was initiated by the US Fish & Wildlife Service in 1974 'to provide needed data and informa
tion sions so that decision-makers about wetland resources, can make knowing informed how deci many,

type, are where, as well as what they func tionally contribute'. Scientists responsible for imple menting the inventory experimented with various types of remote sensing, and finally decided to utilize high of what altitude stereoscopic aerial photography. At that time, satellite imagery could not consistently identify and classify wetlands to the degree of accuracy required. it seems likely that the more recent gener However, ations of satellites with enhanced capabilities will be able to do this, and will certainly be useful inmonitor
ing changes in wetland resources.

the Ramsar Convention coming into force in 1975, there arose a need for widely accepted criteria for the identification of sites of international importance. Provisional criteria were approved at aWetlands Con ference at Heiligenhafen, Germany, in 1974, and later refined at the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Convention Switzer (most recently at Montreux, land, in 1990; see Table 6). These criteria pertain to: (a)
the representative character or uniqueness of the sites;

With

Comprehensive
extremely expensive

inventories
and time

of

this

type
The

are
U.S.

consuming.

Wetlands Inventory has already cost tens of millions of dollars over the last 18 years and will require further It is clearly massive investment prior to completion. impossible for all but the richest countries to carry out inventories of this kind; indeed, the time scale for such detailed work could mean that internationally impor tantwetlands become degraded or destroyed during the
course of inventory compilation. If we are to conserve

(b) the value of the sites for threatened or endemic of species of animals and plants and for maintenance and (c) the importance of the sites for biodiversity; populations of waterfowl. Under the terms of the Ramsar Convention, Con tracting Parties are required to designate sites for inclu sion in the Convention List ofWetlands of International Importance. Once criteria for site selection had been it became possible to compile basic lists, developed, or 'shadow lists', of all those sites which might be eligible for designation as Ramsar sites. The first of these such lists was compiled for IUCN and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and cov ered theWestern Palearctic Region. This Directory of Western Palearctic Wetlands (Carp 1980) was based on both theMAR and Aqua lists, and combined sites of ornithological interest with sites of limnological and botanical interest. It covers forty-four countries in Europe, North Africa and theMiddle East, and lists almost 900 sites. At about the same time, the International Waterfowl and Wetlands (IWRB) was pulling together the extensive information derived from wet land surveys and waterfowl counts in western Europe and north-west Africa. Detailed counts of wildfowl, Research Bureau
shorebirds, and in many cases also pelicans, herons

and make wise use of the most important wetlands in global terms, it is necessary to consider the results which have been obtained from simpler methodolo
gies.

During the late 1950s, the International Society of (SIL) decided to prepare a worldwide Limnologists list of lakes and rivers whose protection was consid ered to be particularly desirable. The International Bio logical Programme eventually took over the project, aptly named Aqua, and published its list of sites in 1971 (Luther & Rzoska IUCN 1971). Meanwhile, had embarked on the compilation of a list of marshes, bogs and other wetlands of international importance, primarily as waterfowl habitat, in Europe and North Africa. This list, known as theMAR List (Olney 1965), was deliberately restricted to about 200 sites, since it

and other water birds, were

lands in western Europe,

available
some

for most wet

estimates of

as were

the total size of the populations,

making

it possible

to

12

Table 6. Ramsar of wetland sites listed by theMAR project Table 5. Comparison under the Ramsar Conven and those subsequently designated tion. Country No. of sites list 1965 Not No. of Ramsar 1. The site is: cance. A wetland

criteria for listing wetlands

of international

signifi

qualifies

for designation

as a Ramsar

site if:

on MAR published Albania Algeria Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic 0 5 0 0 3 1 0 2 4 1 3 4 2 3 21 0 16 7 6 0 7 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 7 10 7 15 4 5 4 2 9 10 17 7

sites designated

by July 1993
a Ramsar 2 Not a Ramsar 2 7 Not Not a Ramsar a Ramsar 6 4 4 4 3 Not a Ramsar 11 8 Not a Ramsar 31 11 13 2 46 Not a Ramsar 1 Not Not a Ramsar a Ramsar 1 Not Not a Ramsar a Ramsar 4 21 14 5 2 1 3 7 1 26 30 8 1 Not a Ramsar a Ramsar 62 2 Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party Party

(a) a particularly good representative example of a natural or of the appropriate biogeo near-natural wetland, characteristic graphical region; or (b) a particularly good representative example of a natural or common to more than one biogeograph near-natural wetland, ical region; or (c) a particularly good representative example of a wetland, or ecological which plays a substantial hydrological, biological of a major river basin or coastal role in the natural functioning system, especially where it is located in a trans-border position; or (d) an example the appropriate and/or 2. The site: or an appreciable of rare, vulnerable assemblage or an or subspecies of plant or animal, of individuals of any one or more of these of a specific type of wetland, region. rare or unusual in

Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Moldova Monaco Morocco Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia Slovak Republic Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Tunisia Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom

biogeographical

(a) supports endangered appreciable species; or

species number

the genetic and ecological (b) is of special value for maintaining of diversity of a region because of the quality and peculiarities its flora and fauna; or (c) is of special value as the habitat of plants critical stage of their biological cycles. and/or 3. The site: endemic plant or animal or animals at a

species

(a) is of special value for one or more or or communities; (b) regularly (c) regularly supports 20,000 waterfowl;

or of individuals of wetland from values,

supports substantial groups of waterfowl, or diversity; or productivity particular (d) where individuals waterfowl.

numbers indicative

1% of data are available, supports regularly in a population of one species or subspecies

the of

0 20 4

Not

Yugoslavia

apply objectively the Ramsar birds and thereby determine for inclusion on the Ramsar bers of birds present. IWRB inA Preliminary

criteria concerning water which wetlands qualified List on the basis of num published this assessment inWest Europe

Inventory of Wetlands

13 and Northwest Africa (Scott 1980), which describes over 500 wetlands in 22 countries. This work has been updated and expanded by a joint subsequently ICBP/IWRB project, the final report of which is enti tled Important Bird Areas in Europe (Grimmett & Jones 1989) and contains brief accounts of around 1200 wetland sites important for birds. The project covered all of Europe, including Greenland, Russia as far east as the Ural mountans, and the whole of Turkey. Wetland in theMediter inventory and monitoring ranean region will be extended in the next few years with the implementation of the MEDWET initiative; a major wetland conservation project being funded by the European Community. IWRB has been given the to test a wetland inventory methodolo responsibility gy which can be employed throughout the Mediter ranean Basin. MEDWET involves close cooperation between Governments the Ramsar Convention
nating role.

information received from over 280 contributors, and describes 730 wetlands covering 118 million hectares in forty-five countires (Scott & Carbonell 1986). The lead was taken in South and East Asia by the International Council for Bird Preservation (ICBP) at its 10th Asian Continental Section Meeting in Sri Lan ka in 1984. This meeting focused on the wetlands and waterfowl of southern and eastern Asia and concluded that the identification of important sites in the region was a priority task. The reports presented at themeeting were published in the form of a preliminary inventory which listed 488 wetlands of importance for waterfowl in 21 countries (Karpowicz 1985). In late 1985, IWRB and IUCN joined ICBP in a three-year project - the Asian Wetlands Inventory - to compile a comprehen sive inventory of wetlands of international importance in southern and eastern Asia. This inventory, funded by WWF, was similar in general approach to the Neotrop ical Inventory, but much broader in scope in that it gave consideration to all the natural functions and values of wetlands, and was therefore less specifically oriented towards the values of wetlands for wildlife. The Asian Wetlands Inventory covered all twenty four countries from Pakistan to China, Japan, Indone sia and Papua New Guinea. Over 500 individuals and organisations participated in the project, and in most countries, national coordinators were appointed and set up. The wetland working groups or committees final report of the project, entitled A Directory of Asian Wetlands describes a total of 947 wetlands covering over 73 million hectares (Scott 1989). The Directory was published by theWorld Conservation Monitoring Centre,
major

and NGOs, with the Bureau of playing an important coordi

the development of initial inventories of ' wetlands in the late '70s and early 80s, most European of the globe has been covered by some kind of wetland inventory. In Africa, the lead was taken by limnolo gists who began in the 1970s to compile information on wetlands of limnological interest for publication in handbook form. This work was subsequently taken over by UNEP and IUCN, and expanded into a full scale directory of major wetlands in the Afrotropical Realm, covering about thirty-five countries in Africa south of the Sahara (Hughes & Hughes 1992), although to suggest that this work forms itwould be misleading a comprehensive inventory of internationally impor tant wetlands. Another important publication on the wetlands and shallow water bodies of Africa spon sored by ORSTOM 1987) pro (Burgis & Symoens vides detailed information on many of Africa's largest
and best-known wetlands, but has many gaps in cover

Since

and has been distributed

participants.

free of charge to all

The Directory Wetlands and the of Neotropical Asian Wetlands vividly demonstrate the Directory of value of international wetland inventories in establish ing priorities. They constitute overviews of the wet land situation throughout large regions of the globe, and provide valuable information on the total area of wetlands of international importance, the number of wetlands enjoying some legal protection, and the total
area under protection. They provide us with an excel

age, and is therefore also of limited value; much work

remains to be done.

In the Neotropical Region, the lead was taken by IWRB. At a meeting in Edmonton, Canada, in 1982, IWRB launched an ambitious Neotropical Wetlands amongst other things, included the Project which, compilation of an inventory of wetlands of interna tional importance in South and Central America and the Caribbean. The project was jointly sponsored by ICBP and IUCN and was funded by a variety of orga the US Fish andWildlife nizations, notably WWF-US, Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service. The result Wetlands summarises ing Directory of Neotropical

lent basis for planning future research, enabling us to identify areas in urgent need of basic surveying work or more detailed study. They also provide a consid erable amount of information on the principal threats to wetlands; in fact, some threat was reported at over 80% of the sites in both regions, and no less than 50% of the sites were considered to be under moderate to serious threat (Scott & Carbonell 1985; Scott & Poole

14 1989). The directories reveal the great regional varia tions that exist both in the extent of protection and in the degree of threat, and can thus be used to identify those wetland ecosystems which are least well repre sented in networks of protected areas and which are in most urgent need of attention. inventories of this type have Two other wetland one and published; been completed very recently covering Oceania and the other covering Australia. in Oceania A Directory (Scott 1993), of Wetlands funded jointly by IWRB, the Asian Wetland Bureau (AWB), the South Pacific Regional Environment Pro gram (SPREP) and the Ramsar Bureau, was initiated in September 1989. The report describes the principal in 24 island nations and territories wetland ecosystems in the Pacific. A companion volume dealing with the internationally important wetlands of New Zealand, is being prepared by the New Zealand Department of A Directory Conservation. of Important Wetlands in Australia was compiled under the auspices of the Aus Conservation Agency (formerly Aus tralian National Parks andWildlife Service). Excluding Antarctica, which has few wetlands in tralian Nature the conventional sense, the only other major regions of the globe which have not as yet been covered by inventories are the national or international wetland with other Central Asian Asian part of Russia, together Republics of the CIS; and the Middle East. IWRB is currently coordinating the project development phase of an inventory of the Baltic Republics, CIS and Geor gia. Parts of the Middle East were incorporated in the UNEP/IUCN Directory lands (Carp 1980), but very for most of the listed sites, la was excluded. A project ofWestern Palearctic Wet little information was given and the Arabian Peninsu to remedy this situation is wetland
accounts

a major publication on the world's wetlands (Whigh am et al 1993); IWRB has recently produced a gen eral account of the world's principal wetlands (Fin lay son & Moser 1991), and IUCN has taken the lead in developing a global wetlands atlas (Dugan 1993). In another recent initiative, the UK Department of the the first phase of a study Environment commissioned of wetlands in the UK Dependent Territories aimed at reviewing the potential for Ramsar site designations (Hepburn e? al 1992). Obviously, wetland inventories of this type, useful though they may be, are only 'snap shots' of the sit uation at the time of their compilation. Within a very few years, they become so out of date as to become almost useless for conservation planning. It is essential that the information, once collected and centralized, be updated as new information becomes available. Unfor tunately, a proposal by theWorld Conservation Mon itoring Centre to establish just such a global wetland
database to serve as a central clearing house for infor

mation
ing. As

has so far failed to attract the necessary

a consequence, the information gathered

fund
dur

ing the various regional inventories remains scattered between a variety of international and regional conser vation bodies, and almost no coordinated updating of information has been possible, except with respect to wetlands designated
on

for the Ramsar List.

Ramsar sites is currently main

Information

currently being elaborated (Scott 1992).* of regional With increasing coverage

inventories came attempts to compile global

tained in a database by IWRB on behalf of the Ram sar Convention Bureau. In the past, the World Con servation Monitoring Centre has updated site data at in conjunction with regular intervals for publication each Conference of the Contracting Parties. The most recent edition of the Directory of Wetlands of Interna tional Importance, prepared byWCMC for the Fourth of the Contracting Parties in Montreux, Conference in 1990, contains information on all 465 Switzerland, sites listed by the 52 countries which were parties to the convention at that time (Ramsar Convention Bureau 1990). As of July 1993, there were 623 Ram sar sites; completely revised texts on each (approved by the Contracting Parties concerned) were published in June 1993 at the Fifth Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties (Jones 1993). of There also needs to be careful consideration the data sets gathered; for example, few of the exist ing international publications contain easily analysed information on wetland functions, nor has there been any systematic collection of quantifiable data for use inmonitoring ecological change in wetlands. The lat ter point provided the focus for debate in one of the

For example, theWorking of particular ecosystems. on Mangrove Ecosystems of IUCN's Commis Group sion on Ecology has produced a report on the global status of mangroves (Saenger et al 1983), while the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) is man conducting a 'Biosphere Inventory Report' of around the world. UNEP and IUCN have groves also sponsored the compilation of a world inventory of coral reefs, many of which fall under the defini tion of wetlands contained in the Ramsar Convention 1988). On a much broader scale, the (UNEP/IUCN International Society of Ecologists (INTECOL) has been working for some years on the preparation of

15 in Florida (St. workshops at IWRB's Board Meeting 16-17 November 1992), the results Petersburg Beach, of which were also conveyed to the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention at their triennial meeting in Kushiro, Japan, in June 1993. By the time that the entire world has been covered by preliminary inventories, it seems likely thatwe will have identified over 5,000 wetlands as being of 'inter
national importance' for nature conservation. If we are

Global
nary

coverage of wetland inventories. There is an need to complete global coverage of prelimi urgent
wetland inventories. International wetland organ

isations should aim to produce before the year 2000, an inventory of all the world's wetlands which quali fy for designation under the Ramsar Convention. This inventory should be compiled on the basis of maximis ing technical objectivity and should not be controlled are as solely by political considerations. Governments free as they have always been
inventories.

able to take full advantage of these inventories and the wealth of information which they have generated, it is essential that the information be centralized and stan dardized for easy access and updating. Otherwise there is a real danger that much of the original information will be lost or become so out of date as to be almost useless, in which case we will find ourselves having
to repeat scratch. the inventories all over again, almost from

to produce

their own

Coverage of national wetland inventories. All coun tries that have not already done so, should be encour aged to produce their own, detailed national wetland inventories. These should cover wetlands of national or local importance as well as the sites already identi fied by international projects. to inventory projects. Follow-up tories should provide scope for:
-

All wetland

inven

Conclusion Definition of wetland. A globally accepted definition is desirable. The Ramsar definition has been accepted in principle by 79 Contracting Parties and has been used inmany international inventory projects. It will also be used in compilation of the forthcoming inven tory of Middle Eastern wetlands. The Ramsar defini tion cannot be changed except by a complex and time consuming legal procedure to amend the Convention text.We therefore recommend use of the Ramsar defi nition for international purposes, although the Ramsar Bureau could be encouraged to develop guidelines for interpretation of the definition especially in relation
to man-made wetlands and marine ecosystems.

regular

updating

monitoring ecological change and wetland loss provision of information most useful towetland con
servation

functional analysis

- wide dissemination

of inventory results.

Location and accessibility of wetland inventory data. There is an urgent need for original data gathered under international inventory projects to be centralised at a location that will: -

provide for networking with other databases

permit ready access to data

Global classification of wetlands. There is a need for a simple global classification system, and in spite of its inevitable shortcomings, much progress has already been made with the Ramsar classification. We believe that there is little to be gained in terms of wetland con servation by working on the development of an entirely new system and therefore advocate the utilisaton of the Ramsar system for use in all international fora. Regional, national and local classifications. These can and should be as detailed as is necessary or feasible.
However, for ease of international exchange and trans

facilitate updating of information the existence of such data sets. publicise/promote The Middle East Wetland Inventory Project is now

(1995) nearing completion.

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