Posted on June, 17 2013

Bolivia has designated a huge 6,9 million ha area of Amazon wetlands – the size of Netherlands and Belgium combined – as Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention, helping ensure their future survival. Announced on World Wetlands Day in February, the Llanos de Moxos wetland complex is the largest ever registered under Ramsar, which now includes more than 2,000 sites worldwide covering 200 million ha – over half supported by WWF, mostly in the last decade as the protection of the world’s freshwater systems becomes increasingly urgent. The wetlands, close to Bolivia’s border with Peru and Brazil, contain a wealth of wildlife including 658 bird species. Bolivia now leads the world in area designated as Ramsar wetlands.