Wetlands International

To sustain and restore wetlands, their resources and biodiversity

Wetlands International (WI) was created in 1995 by a merger of three international wetland organisations. Its international secretariat in the Netherlands now supports offices in 15 countries.

The WI-China Office was established in 1996 to assist the Chinese government in policy making and to provide support for conservation and appropriate use of wetlands. The office has recently been involved in the establishment of wetland centres in Hangzhou Bay and Wuzhong, provision of technical advice on wetland management and ecology, and has successfully completed a wetland management policy and capacity building project through the Australia China Environment Development Partnership.

Over the next five years the WI-China office will focus on increasing knowledge and improving protection of key wetland and peat land ecosystems in the Yellow River Basin from the Tibetan Plateau to the Yellow Sea, particularly those sites that are critical to migratory birds utilizing the East-Asian Australasian Flyway.

As well as assisting the Chinese government to fulfil its responsibilities under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, WI-China maintains strong links with a specialist network of wetland experts to promote the wise use and conservation for wetlands. It’s Chinese language website provides access to information and specialist articles on websites, and the organisation translates key international documents into Chinese, and key Chinese documents into English, as well as publishing a regular newsletter.