Jersey Ramsar Advisory Group – Context and Purpose

Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international co-operation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

As at February 2025, there are 172 contracting parties to the convention, with 2,532 wetland sites (totaling almost 258 million hectares) designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

Information about the Convention on Wetlands can be found at https://www.ramsar.org

The Government of Jersey (GoJ) became a Contracting Party to the Convention on Wetlands (‘the Ramsar Convention’) in 2000, and is required to report through DEFRA in the UK, to the international secretariat of Ramsar in Gland, Switzerland.  Subsequently Jersey has designated four areas of coastal waters and reefs as Ramsar sites, encompassing 18,756 hectares of Jersey’s marine environment (those areas below Mean High Water Springs (MHWS) out to the Island’s 12 mile territorial limits of local waters).

The South East coast or Violet Reef stretching out around La Rocque and Seymour Tower, was designated in 2000. The offshore reefs of Les Miniquiers, Les Ecréhous & Les Dirouilles and Les Pierres de Lecq (commonly known as the Pater Nosters) were designated in 2005.  The Ramsar Convention provides a framework for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources through the integrated management of land, water and living resources, in a manner that promotes the three objectives of the Convention:

• Conservation;
• Sustainable use; and
• The fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from each site.

Jersey Ramsar Management Authority (JRMA)

Under the Ramsar Convention a Management Authority needs to be established by each Contracting Party to implement the process.  In Jersey the Management Authority is GoJ, represented by the Minister for the Environment, in turn represented by the Department for the Natural Environment (‘DNE’), which has established a specific group internally to act as the Jersey Ramsar Management Authority (‘JRMA’).

GoJ has an obligation under the Convention to prepare a management plan for each of the Ramsar sites, with the support of stakeholders.  The Management Plans primarily identify the five year objectives for the sites and set out the management measures required.

Having worked with the Jersey Ramsar Advisory Group (see below) on the preparation of the Management Plans, the JRMA is now working to fulfil the strategic aims and management objectives of the plans. For example, JRAG and JRMA are working together to help monitor the state of Ramsar sites combining the efforts of the DNE and with those of voluntary organisations focused on the marine environment.

Jersey Ramsar Advisory Group

The role of the Jersey Ramsar Advisory Group (‘JRAG’) is to support the JRMA and to hold it accountable against its obligations under the Ramsar Convention and to advise on and make recommendations about the Management Plans.  In essence its purpose is to act as a ‘critical friend’.  The JRAG shall liaise with GoJ through the JRMA. The JRAG has worked closely with GoJ on the preparation of the Management Plans published in January 2025.

The JRAG Membership comprises NGO stakeholders and other civil society groups with a special interest in the Ramsar sites, including representatives from the Department for the Natural Environment, Jersey Marine Resources and also the Connétables of Jersey.

Jersey’s Ramsar sites

Jersey has designated 4 Ramsar sites for each of which an updated Management Plan was published in January 2025.  The Management Plans sit underneath a Framework that presents the overall context and aims that Jersey has for its Ramsar sites.

JRAG also collaborates with equivalent bodies in the other Channel Islands. It aims to raise awareness of Jersey’s Ramsar sites and also of efforts by local organisations, including the Government of Jersey, in protecting and managing human use of the Island’s Ramsar sites.