An international eco-label
The Ramsar Convention on wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty that was adopted on 2 February 1971 at Ramsar in Iran. It now concerns over 160 countries, including France which signed up in 1986. The Ramsar Convention works to conserve the various habitats (rivers, lakes, coastal lagoons, mangrove forests, flooded forests, coral reefs, etc.) whose common point is that they are recognised worldwide as being of ecological interest. This designation is an international eco-label, not regulatory protection or a binding measure of some kind. This eco-label attests to the sustainability of prior management practices and indicates that the precious heritage we receive needs to be safeguarded by the rational utilisation of resources. Third Ramsar zone in French Guiana In French Guiana a third Ramsar zone has been designated in the central section of the coastline in the districts of Iracoubo and Sinnamary. It is further evidence of the outstanding interest of the French Guianese coast which already had the Ramsar zones of the Kaw Marshes (in the East) and the Basse Mana (in the West). It includes the estuaries of the Sinnamary and Iracoubo rivers, Yiyi marshes (or pripris as they are known), as well as the neighbouring mangrove forests. This set of wetlands covering more than 20,000 hectares is owned by the Coastal and Lakeside Protection Agency (Conservatoire de l’Espace Littoral et des Rivages Lacustres), which holds the land and puts s......