LUANDA, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Angola counts 11 wetlands and thus has the potential to join the Ramsar Convention, which is also known as the Convention on Wetlands, an official told the press Wednesday.
Nadia Bernardo, head of Department of Parks and Conservation Areas of the Ministry of Environment, said that those areas are considered as crucial to maintain the biological diversity of a specific biogeographic region.
The Ramsar Convention is an intergovernmental environmental treaty established in 1971 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and came into force in 1975. It provides for national action and international cooperation regarding the conservation of wetlands, and wise sustainable use of their resources.
Among the criteria for a zone to be considered a "Ramsar Site," the official mentioned aspects such as sustaining vulnerable species risking extinction, endangered ecological communities, as well as supporting 1 percent of individuals of the population of species or subspecies dependent on that area.
Most wetlands in Angola are located in the south-eastern region of the country, mainly in the provinces of Bie, Kuando Kubango and Moxico.
Wetlands are swamp extensions, ponds or surfaces covered with water, either natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, containing stagnant or permanent water.
