Fourteenth meeting
The 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP14) is held November 5-13 in Wuhan, China, and Geneva, Switzerland. The theme of the COP is Wetlands Action for People and Nature. The Convention has as its objective the international protection of wetlands through their identification and delimitation, the study of the characteristic aspects, in particular of the avifauna, and the implementation of programs that allow the conservation of habitats, flora and fauna.
The total area
Currently 172 countries have signed the Convention, including all EU Member States, and 2.455 Ramsar sites have been designated for a total area of 255.897.678 hectares. Wetlands are environments with high ecological diversity, considerable productivity, characterized by considerable environmental fragility and by the presence of species and habitats that are among those most threatened globally; as well as sheltering high concentrations of species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates.
International recognition
The wetlands of international importance recognized and included in the list of the Ramsar Convention for Italy are currently 57, distributed in 15 Regions, for a total of 73.982 hectares. In addition, Ministerial Decrees have been issued for the establishment of a further 9 areas and, at the moment, the procedure for international recognition is underway: the designated Ramsar areas in Italy will therefore be 66 and will cover a total area of 77.856 hectares (source : ISPRA).