World Wetlands Day is here! Please join us and the State Department Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science in congratulating the Wetlands Photo Celebration fan favorites—with images and photographers from around the globe in the four categories of favorites for the Wetlands and Tourism theme: Plants, Landscape, Tourists and Wildlife.

Visit the Flickr group and check out the lush silt village in Ghana, a peaceful river in West Virginia, a snorkeler in the gorgeous coastal wetlands of Mexico, and a beautiful damselfly in Cambodia. Many thanks to all who participated – there were nearly 900 hundred photo submissions. We salute the world’s wetlands for their many critical benefits to humankind and their incredible beauty. Happy World Wetlands Day 2012!!

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Wildlife Without Borders program serves as the administrative authority for the International Wetlands Convention in the United States.

The International Wetlands Convention, signed in Ramsar, Iran in 1971, was created to help governments coordinate wetlands conservation on an international scale. The Service and the Department of State are the administrative authorities for this Convention in the U.S., and it is this treaty that serves as the cornerstone for the Service's International Wetlands Program.

Factsheet on the Wetlands Convention (PDF)
Project Summaries 2010 (PDF)

Wetlands Sites - Areas designated as Wetlands of International Importance through the Wetlands Convention:
       Federal Register U.S. Wetlands Site Listings (PDF)
       U.S. Site Nomination and Designation Factsheet (PDF)
       U.S. Wetlands Sites Brochure (PDF)
       Photo Gallery of U.S. Wetlands Sites (PDF)

Wetlands Management - Download the Guide to management planning for Site Managers (PDF)

Helpful Links:
       International Wetlands Convention
       U.S. National Ramsar Committee
       USFWS National Wetlands Inventory