The Convention on Wetlands, called the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. This spatial dataset contains the digital boundaries of Ramsar sites in Wales. In ratifying the Convention in 1976, the UK government accepted a commitment to promote the conservation of internationally important wetland sites within its territories. Wetlands are vital for many types of birds particularly waterfowl and Wales have some prime sites that are essential to the survival of many wetland plants and animals. Wetland sites can be areas of marsh, fen, peatland or open water; natural or artificial; permanent or temporary; with water that is fresh, b
rackish or salty. They can also include shallow areas of sea. All Ramsar sites are also Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Wetlands of International Importance are identified by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), in collaboration with the UK Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), and designated by the First Minister for the National Assembly for Wales. The Ramsars have been designated over a number of years, from 1976 to the present day, and are on-going. The data has been held digitally since mid1990s. The boundaries have been checked by NRW staff. Due to scale enlargement and different editions of map a certain degree of interpretation was required.