TEHRAN — Ramsar Mayor Nosratollah Kouzehgar and Suncheon Mayor Cho Choong-hoon inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to enhance cooperation in sustainable development and conservation of wetlands, the Department of Environment official website reported on Saturday.

Ramsar Regional Centre for Central and West Asia with the goal of enhancing the implementation of the Ramsar Convention in the region through training, research, advocacy and public awareness programs was established in in the Iranian city of Ramsar, the northern province of Mazandaran, in 2002.

The center is planning on cultivating closer relation with other regional centers of Ramsar Convection lately with the purpose of economic growth by improving nature tourism and preserving biodiversity by means of protecting and sustainable exploitation of the wetlands. 

Accordingly a delegation comprising Ramsar Mayor Kouzehgar, Ramsar chief of department of environment Mohammad Reza Niasati, and Ramsar Regional Centre for Central and West Asia executive director Sadeq Sadeqizadegan travelled to South Korea to visit the Ramsar Regional Center for East Asia in Suncheon and strengthen ties with the center on April 25.

Sharing and exchanging knowledge and successful experiences to improve tourism and sightseeing, enhancing bilateral cooperation to safeguard the biodiversity, promoting economic growth through sustainable eco-tourism, and cooperating on Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA) programs by arranging joint student camps and sightseeing, eco-tourism festivals, fairs, etc. to support Ramsar convention are of the goals of the newly signed agreement between the two mayors.

The Convention on Wetlands, called the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. It is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the Convention was signed in 1971.

The Convention’s mission is “the conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world”.

MQ/MG