The Ramsar Secretariat is delighted to announce that the Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare in Italy has designated four new Wetlands of International Importance, effective as of 13 December 2006. All of them are quite small, but all are extremely important for migratory and other birds and for a number of other rare and threatened species – indeed, all four are Special Areas of Conservation under the EC Habitats Directive and BirdLife International “Important Bird Areas”. Lago di San Giuliano (2,118 hectares) and Pantano di Pignola (172 ha) are both in the southern region of Basilicata, and Oasi del Sele-Serre Persano (174 ha) and Oasi di Castelvolturno o Variconi (195 ha) in Campania, also in the south. All are part of WWF Italy’s Oasis and Reserves system and thus benefit from a number of educational, scientific, and restoration initiatives in collaboration with local authorities.

Italy now has 50 Ramsar sites (more than all but United Kingom, Mexico, Australia, and Sweden), covering a surface area of 59,796 hectares. The Convention now has 1,650 sites covering 149,646,353 hectares. Ramsar’s Assistant Advisor for Europe, Monica Zavagli, has prepared brief descriptions of the new sites for the Annotated Ramsar List, accompanied by some photos provided by the Ministry.

Source: website of the Ramsar Convention

Updated on 3/16/2007 1:01:52 PM.