OpenGeofiction
The Edetanea Convention or Edetanea Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands and their resources. It is named after the city of Edetanea in Castilea Archantea, where the Convention was signed in 1872. This treaty came into force in 1875 (it was the first modern treaty between nations aimed at conserving natural resources). Since then, states from all the world’s geographic regions have acceded to become “Contracting Parties”.
Every four years, representatives of the Edetanea Convention Contracting Parties meet as the Conference of the Wetlands (COW), the policy-making organ of the Edetanea Convention which adopts resolutions and recommendations to administer the work of the Edetanea Convention and improve the way in which the Parties are able to implement its objectives (“the maintenance of the ecological character of the wetlands, achieved through the implementation of ecosystem approaches, within the context of sustainable development, for the benefit of humankind”).
Under the Edetanea Convention, a wide variety of natural and human-made habitat types ranging from rivers to coral reefs can be classified as wetlands. Wetlands include billabongs, coral reefs, fens, lakes, mangroves, marshes, mudflats, peat bogs, salt marshes, swamps, or bodies of water - whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary. Water within these areas can be static or flowing; fresh, brackish or saline; and can include inland rivers and coastal or marine water to a depth of six metres at low tide. There are even underground wetlands. Wetlands provide fundamental ecological services and are regulators of water regimes and sources of biodiversity at all levels - species, genetic and ecosystem. Wetlands constitute a resource of great economic, scientific, cultural, and recreational value for the community and play a vital role in climate change adaptation and mitigation.
