EXAMPLES OF THREE
“WETLAND CITIES”

This section highlights the experience of the three Wetland Cities:
Valdivia, Chile (2025), Dongying, People’s Republic of China (2018) and Colombo, Sri Lanka (2018).

In the following videos, City Representatives share their experience in preparing the application for Wetland City Accreditation. Testimonies include–but are not limited to– the questions below:

What was the main motivation for applying for the WCA and what does the city expect from this recognition?

How demanding or doable was the administrative process around the WCA, considering aspects such as time, stakeholder engagement, political will and coordination with the national government, among others?

According to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands Operational Guidance for Wetland City Accreditation, which criteria were most difficult to fulfill in terms of evidence and indicators? How did the technical team overcome these challenges?

Valdivia, Chile

Accreditation Year: 2025

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In 2018, the Chilean Senate – almost unanimously – signed an agreement to nominate Valdivia for the Ramsar Convention Wetland City Accreditation. In 2021, during the electoral campaign for the mayor of Valdivia, candidates were asked to sign a declaration of intent committing to nominate the city of Valdivia as a Wetland City if elected mayor.”

Carolina Jara Vergara

Head, Department of Environment
Municipality of Valdivia, Chile

Dongying, People’s Republic of China

Accreditation Year: 2018
Accreditation Renewal Date: 2025

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One of the challenges we encountered during the application process was collecting sufficient evidence and data through cooperation with other government institutions, such as the ecotourism case from the Culture and Tourism Bureau, the organic farming case from the Agriculture Bureau, and the organic fishing case from the Marine Development and Fisheries Bureau, among others.”

Yanyan SUN

Senior Engineer
Dongying Wetland Protection Center, People’s Republic of China

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Accreditation Year: 2018
Accreditation Renewal Date: 2025

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The main reason the City of Colombo applied for the renewal of accreditation was the branding as a Wetland City. This has enabled us to gain additional benefits in the tourism sector in multiple ways, as well as international recognition from funds that promote the conservation of biodiversity and its ecosystem services (e.g., Global Environment Facility, Darwin Initiative, private funding for conferences, etc.).”

Dhammi Pindeniya

Ecologist
Sri Lanka Land Development Corporation

A Global Community of Good Practices

Wetland Cities are learning and collaborating with each other through the Wetland City Network. According to the
Wetland Cities Network Strategic Plan 2022-2028, this initiative:

Facilitates effective communication among Wetland Cities.

Encourages information exchange on experiences and lessons learned in managing urban and peri-urban wetlands, particularly with respect to local policies.

Facilitates dialogues to foster environmental and socio-economic cooperation among Wetland Cities.

Provides access to shared resources among network members.

Since COP13, numerous cities have been formally accredited as Wetland Cities. In support of this accreditation scheme, the Ramsar Regional Centre – East Asia (RRC-EA) played a key role in organizing the first Mayors’ Roundtable in 2019, in Suncheon, Republic of Korea. During this meeting, the Wetland Cities unanimously agreed to establish the Wetland Cities Network and assigned the RRC-EA the role of the network’s Secretariat.