It's all about conserving wetlands home to rare species and plants.
Unlike many other environment-related conferences the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands has a long history. Established in 1971 at the city of Ramsar, Iran 18 countries signed an intergovernmental treaty which works to conserve wetlands and its resources.
Now that convention has 158 member states with Korea becoming its 101st member in 1997.
The convention takes place every three years and this time the 10th Ramsar Convention kicks off on October 28th for a week in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.
This year's convention has a new goal to come up with a declaration to be implemented and reviewed at its next meeting.
[Interview : Anada Tiega Secretary General, Ramsar Convention] "Changwon Declaration itself will be a way to highlight some of the key issues from the Ramsar Strategic Plan, which will be running from 2009 to 2014."
This will be the second time the convention has been held in Asia.
The first time was in Japan back in 1993. When it comes to wetlands Korea boasts the Upo wetland near Nakdong River in South Gyeongsang Province dating back some 140-million years. It's home to more than three-hundred endangered species including rare plants birds and fish.
There is also the Soonchun wetland located in South Jeolla Province which ranks fifth in the world spanning some 30 kilometers north and south. Next month's convention is expected to bring in around two-thousand government representatives from 160 countries and non-governmental organizations. Changwon city officials hope the event which took three years of preparation will bring more support and attention to the region.
Lee Jeewon, Arirang News.
SEP 06, 2008
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Arirang Town
Tuesday, FEB 09, 2010, (KST) 
