Iran secured the extension with the continuous and joint efforts of the Department of Environment and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was signed in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971, the first international treaty on the protection of wetlands of global ecological, economic, and cultural importance. This is known as the first successful model of global cooperation in the field of environment.
The conservation and sustainable management of wetlands and their associated aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, as well as, international cooperation in scientific information, are among the main objectives of the Ramsar Convention.
With 160 countries now members of the treaty, and committing to safeguard designated Ramsar “initiatives” endorsed in the UN climate summit, Iran, as the regional center with 33 wetlands, plays a critical role in biodiversity conservation.
Ramsar, is a unique center because it focuses specifically on West and Central Asia and manages 15 member countries in the region, including Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Oman, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan.
Ahmadreza Lahijanzadeh, Deputy for Marine Environment at Iran’s Department of Environment, told IRNA that the recent extension prevented the Ramsar center’s transfer to another country and strengthens Iran’s regional leadership.
He said that despite the request of some neighboring countries to transfer the center, Iran’s diplomatic and budgetary measures succeeded in maintaining the status quo, while its international activities were widely appreciated by the Ramsar Convention Secretariat.
Lahijanzadeh also announced the center’s activities in the field of mangrove forest protection with the cooperation of China, which he said had entered the operational phase.
