Prospective on Development Trends of InternationalWetland Conservation and Management from the 12th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the Convention onWetlands
The Convention on Wetlands was signed in Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971, which was the first intergovernmental multilateral environmental convention and was also a pioneer international convention signed for conservation of a single ecosystem. China joined the Convention on Wetlands in 1992, and fulfilled the duty positively. Every three years, representatives of the governments of each contracting parties meet as the Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP), and the 12th COP was held from 2 to 10 June, 2015 at Punta del Este, Uruguay. Led by the State Forestry Administration, a delegation, consisting of the representatives and experts in the field of wetland conservation and the management was sent by the Chinese government to attend this meeting. During the meeting, Chinese delegation carried out a series of activities to introduce and publicize status of wetland conservation and management in China. The 12th COP adopted 15 resolutions by consensus, including the Strategic Plan 2016-2021, a new framework for the delivery of scientific and technical advice and guidance on the Convention, a wetland city accreditation of the Ramsar Convention, peatlands, climate change and wise use. Combined with the content of the 12th COP, the development trends of international wetland conservation and management were discussed in the paper.