When a State becomes a Party to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Ramsar Secretariat sends a diplomatic note to the relevant authorities, including an information package, the Ramsar manual, and the Ramsar handbooks.
As Parties and non-Parties alike participate in regional Ramsar activities (including regional meetings and training courses), and non-Parties are also sponsored to attend the meetings of the Conference of the Parties, their knowledge about the Convention and its processes often is quite good by the time a State accedes to the Convention. In some cases, a training course at the national level takes place before accession to inform the Government about its future obligations and to explain the goals and operation of the Convention. In other cases, the training course for the national focal point and other relevant Government agencies takes place after accession, depending on the Government’s request.
For more information, contact the Ramsar Secretariat ramsar@ramsar.org