Ramsar Sites - Wetlands of International Importance

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. This spatial dataset contains the digital boundaries of Ramsar sites in Wales. In ratifying the Convention in 1976, the UK government accepted a commitment to promote the conservation of internationally important wetland sites within its territories.

Wetlands are vital for many types of birds particularly waterfowl and Wales have some prime sites that are essential to the survival of many wetland plants and animals. Wetland sites can be areas of marsh, fen, peatland or open water; natural or artificial; permanent or temporary; with water that is fresh, brackish or salty. They can also include shallow areas of sea. All Ramsar sites are also Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Wetlands of International Importance are identified by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), in collaboration with the UK Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), and designated by the First Minister for the National Assembly for Wales.

The Ramsars have been designated over a number of years, from 1976 to the present day, and are on-going. The data has been held digitally since mid1990s. The boundaries have been checked by NRW staff. Due to scale enlargement and different editions of map a certain degree of interpretation was required.

Identifier: NRW_DS98759

Alternative Title

Ramsar.LYR
Marine protected areas Ramsar.lyr
Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites)
Sites (Ramsar)

Metadata Language: English

Lineage: Originally produced as paper maps but with the progress to GIS later designations produced directly from digital capture. The data was derived from the designation paper maps that vary in scale from 1:50,000, 1:25,000 and 1:10,000. The present data is digitised to OS MasterMap. With the coming of GIS and its use in government departments and commercial companies mobilising the data in this way, advances the protection of these sites and the efficiency of decision making.

Additional Information: Please refer to Wetlands of International Importance - Ramsar Convention for reasons for capture of original designation. NRW has also created a subset of this dataset showing only those where relate to the marine enivronment. These are available on the Welsh Government marine planning portal.

Dataset Reference Date (Publication): 2022-11-28

Temporal Extent

Begin date: 1995-01-01

End date: 2009-06-09

Topic category

Biota
Environment
Imagery base maps earth cover
Inland waters

Owner

Natural Resources Wales (NRW)

Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales

http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en

Originator

Natural Resources Wales (NRW)

Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales

http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en

Extent

Geographic Extent: Wales (WLS)

Vertical Extent

Medin Extent Keyword: benthic boundary layer

Distribution

Format Type and Description

Geographic Information System ( )

Specification

ESRI Feature Class

Resource Locator: View and Download ( WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link )

Resource Locator: Web Mapping Service ( OGC:WMS )

Data quality

Quality Scope: Dataset

Conformity: Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services
Explanation
Degree: false

Lineage: Originally produced as paper maps but with the progress to GIS later designations produced directly from digital capture. The data was derived from the designation paper maps that vary in scale from 1:50,000, 1:25,000 and 1:10,000. The present data is digitised to OS MasterMap. With the coming of GIS and its use in government departments and commercial companies mobilising the data in this way, advances the protection of these sites and the efficiency of decision making.

Keywords

GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0

Type: Theme

Citation

Date (Publication): 2008-06-01

Code: geonetwork.thesaurus.external.theme.httpinspireeceuropaeutheme-theme

Keywords

NRW Thesaurus

Ramsar sites
Fenland
bird habitat
marshland
geographical information systems (GIS)
waterfowl
Newport Wetlands Reserve (see also Gwent Levels Wetlands Reserve)

Type: Theme

Citation

Date (Publication): 2024-06-19

Code: geonetwork.thesaurus.local.theme.converted_nrw-keywords

Keywords

SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary

Habitat characterisation
Habitat extent

Type: Theme

Citation

Date (Publication): 2024-06-19

Code: geonetwork.thesaurus.external.theme.rdf+xml

Keywords

NRW SMNR Keywords

Water Quality (SMNR)
Coastal Margins (SMNR)
Marine (SMNR)
Sea and Coast (SMNR)
Management Areas (SMNR)
Freshwater and Wetlands (SMNR)
Sustainable Management of Natural Resources (SMNR)
Ecosystem (SMNR)
Soil and Land (SMNR)
Provisioning Services (SMNR)
Cultural Services (SMNR)
Animals, Plants and Other Organisms (SMNR)
Regulating Services (SMNR)
Ecosystem Services (SMNR)
Natural Resources (Incl. Features and Processes) (SMNR)
Physical Geography (Physiography) (SMNR)

Type: Theme

Citation

Date (Publication): 2024-06-26

Code: geonetwork.thesaurus.local.theme.converted_nrw-smnr-keywords

Code: British National Grid (EPSG::27700)

Content Information

NRW Profile

Custom Elements

Constraints

Limitations on Public Access and Use

Restriction type: Other restrictions

Access Constraints Directive

Limitations: no limitations

Access Constraints Text

Other constraints: There are no access restrictions on this data. NRW may release, publish or disseminate it freely.

Use Constraints

Use constraints type: Other restrictions

Other constraints: © CNC/NRW All rights Reserved. Contains Ordnance Survey Data. Ordnance Survey Licence number AC0000849444. Crown Copyright and Database Right Data may be re-used under the terms of the Open Government Licence providing it is done so, acknowledging both the source and copyright of the owners. It is the recipient's responsibility to ensure the data is fit for the intended purpose.

Attribution Statement

Other constraints: Contains Natural Resources Wales information © Natural Resources Wales and Database Right. All rights Reserved. Contains Ordnance Survey Data. Ordnance Survey Licence number AC0000849444. Crown Copyright and Database Right.

Metadata

File Identifier: 4f4c4942-4343-5764-6473-3938373539 XML

Metadata Language: English

Resource type: Dataset

Metadata Date: 2024-09-09T15:38:14.912Z

Metadata Standard Name: NRW

Metadata Standard Version: 1.0

pointOfContact

Natural Resources Wales (NRW)

Maes-y-Ffynnon, Penrhosgarnedd, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DW, Wales

http://naturalresources.wales/?lang=en

Publishing Body

Access the portal

Full access to the portal and metadata.

Ramsar Sites - Wetlands of International Importance

Identification

Temporal Extent

Extent

Extent

Vertical Extent

Distribution

Distribution

Quality

Data quality

Keywords

Keywords

Citation

Keywords

Citation

Keywords

Citation

Keywords

Citation

Spatial Reference System

Content

Content Information

NRW Profile

Custom Elements

Constraints

Constraints

Limitations on Public Access and Use

Access Constraints Directive

Access Constraints Text

Use Constraints

Attribution Statement

Metadata

Metadata

Publishing Body