The Ramsar Convention provides a framework for the conservation and wise use of all wetlands. The Convention applies nine criteria to facilitate the designation of Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites). Recognising the critical importance of waterbirds to the biodiversity and ecological character of wetlands, four criteria stand out for waterbirds.
Ramsar Criterion 2 (C2) identifies sites that support Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable species (all of which are considered to be threatened species [TSP]), including waterbirds. Ramsar Criterion 4 (C4) identifies sites which provide critical life stage support to species, including waterbirds. Ramsar Criterion 5 (C5) identifies sites that regularly support 20,000 or more waterbirds. Ramsar Criterion 6 (C6) identifies sites that regularly support 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of waterbird.
Waterbird Status per Ramsar Site
NOTE: click on the "Ramsar Site" column header to align columns
*Research within the BIRDIE project led by Sol Plaatje University has resulted in an additional index, the Waterbird Conservation Value (WCV) index. This index sums the ratio of each species’ abundance to its published 1% threshold across all species to give an overall measure of the 'value' of the waterbirds at a wetland. Large values indicate that large proportions of the total populations of waterbird species are present at the wetland.
Waterbird Conservation Value Index categories
Index
Range
Description
Low
0-10
Site may support threshold populations for a few species; conservation value is low
Medium
11-24
Site supports important threshold populations for some species; conservation value is medium
High
25-49
Site supports important threshold populations for numerous species; conservation value is high
Very high
50+
Site supports significant threshold populations for numerous species; conservation value is significant
Welcome to Biodiversity Advisor 2.0!
Biodiversity Advisor, developed by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and its Data Partners, is a system that will provide integrated biodiversity information to a wide range of users who will have access to geospatial data, plant and animal species distribution data, ecosystem-level data, literature, images and metadata.
The integrated information comes from our much-loved Botanical Database of Southern Africa (BODATSA) also known as Plants of Southern Africa (POSA), Zoological Database of Southern Africa (ZODATSA), Biodiversity Geographic Information System (BGIS), SANBI's institutional repository (Opus) and others.
The system is still under development, so you may find a few bugs/issues. If you do, please report it via the error reporting button available in various sections of the website or provide us with any useful feedback you may have via the ‘Give us feedback’ option available in the sidebar menu. You can create a free account for yourself by clicking on the user profile icon which will take you through to the login page. Here you can choose the ‘Create an account’ option or simply fill in your details if you have an account already. Having an account on Biodiversity Advisor will provide users with free access to biodiversity resources.
In future, Team SANBI will be able to log in using their day-to-day login details, BGIS users will be able to use their existing accounts and details, and general users will be able to log in using their LinkedIn profile, but for now you will need to create an account.
