Ramsar Wetland City Accreditation

The Ramsar Wetland City Accreditation scheme was established under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, signed at Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971 and in force since 21 December 1975. The accreditation itself is a comparatively recent instrument: it was formally created by Resolution XII.10, adopted at the 12th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP12) held in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in June 2015. The resolution responded to growing recognition that wetlands within and around urban settlements—rivers, floodplains, lakes, mangroves, and constructed marshes—deliver flood regulation, water supply, microclimate moderation, and biodiversity habitat, yet face intense pressure from urbanisation. The scheme operates alongside, but is legally distinct from, the designation of Wetlands of International Importance (the Ramsar List), and is administered through the Convention Secretariat hosted by IUCN in Gland, Switzerland, with technical guidance from the Scientific and Technical Review Panel.

The accreditation procedure is voluntary and applicant-driven. A candidate city, working with the relevant local and national authorities, must demonstrate compliance with six international criteria set out in the operational guidance annexed to Resolution XII.10. These require, in substance, that the city contain one or more Ramsar Sites or other wetlands of international, national, or local importance within or near its boundaries; that it adopt measures to conserve those wetlands and their ecosystem services; that it implement spatial planning that integrates wetland conservation; that it provide measures for wetland restoration and management; that it deliver public awareness and education on wetland values; and that it establish a local committee or stakeholder mechanism to oversee implementation. Applications are submitted through the National Ramsar Administrative Authority, which in India is the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).

Endorsed national applications are forwarded to an Independent Advisory Committee constituted under the Standing Committee of the Convention. That committee evaluates each submission against the six criteria and recommends approval or rejection. Final accreditation is conferred by the Conference of the Contracting Parties at its triennial meetings, after which the label is valid for six years and is subject to renewal upon re-demonstration of continued compliance. The accreditation confers no binding legal obligation and carries no financial transfer; its value is reputational, diplomatic, and as a planning discipline. The Secretariat encourages accredited cities to network and share practice, and the label can be used in municipal branding, tourism promotion, and international city diplomacy.

The first cohort of eighteen cities was accredited at COP13 in Dubai in October 2018, including Colombo (Sri Lanka), Amiens (France), and several Chinese, Korean, and Tunisian municipalities. At COP14, convened jointly in Wuhan, China, and Geneva, Switzerland, in November 2022, the network expanded to forty-three cities. India achieved its first accreditations at COP14, with Indore (Madhya Pradesh) and Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh)—home to the Sirpur and Yashwant Sagar wetlands, and the Bhoj Wetland respectively—joined by Udaipur (Rajasthan), recognised for its interconnected lake system including Pichola and Fateh Sagar. The MoEFCC subsequently shortlisted further Indian cities, signalling the scheme's growing salience in domestic environmental governance and its alignment with the Amrit Dharohar and wetland conservation initiatives.

The accreditation must be distinguished from adjacent Ramsar instruments. A Ramsar Site is a specific wetland listed under Article 2 of the Convention as a Wetland of International Importance; the listing attaches to the wetland and obliges the Contracting Party to promote its conservation and wise use, with degradation triggering the Montreux Record. Wetland City Accreditation, by contrast, attaches to the urban administrative entity and recognises governance performance rather than ecological status alone. It is also distinct from the broader concept of "wise use," the Convention's foundational principle defined as the maintenance of ecological character within sustainable development. A city may hold accreditation without every relevant wetland being on the Ramsar List, and a Ramsar Site may exist with no accredited city nearby.

Several tensions attend the scheme. Because accreditation is voluntary and self-reported through national authorities, critics note variability in verification rigour and the absence of an enforcement mechanism if a city's wetlands degrade after the label is granted; renewal at six years is the principal safeguard. The label has also drawn scrutiny where municipal development pressures—real-estate expansion onto floodplains, encroachment, and untreated sewage discharge—coexist with the accreditation, raising questions of greenwashing. Recent developments include closer integration of the scheme with the global Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreed in December 2022 and with Sustainable Development Goals 6, 11, and 15, positioning accredited cities as demonstration sites for nature-based solutions to urban climate adaptation.

For the working practitioner—whether a desk officer at an environment ministry, a municipal commissioner, or a UPSC aspirant addressing General Studies Paper III—the accreditation is significant as a measurable, internationally benchmarked tool that links local urban planning to a multilateral environmental treaty. It offers diplomats a soft-power instrument in city-to-city engagement and offers planners a structured framework for integrating ecosystem services into master plans. Understanding the distinction between the accreditation, the Ramsar List, the Montreux Record, and the wise-use principle is essential for accurate policy drafting, examination answers, and the negotiation of India's expanding portfolio of fifty-plus Ramsar Sites and its growing roster of accredited Wetland Cities.