1.RECALLING the commitments made by Contracting Parties to achieving the wise use, as far as possible, of all wetlands in their territory and to maintaining the ecological character of designated Ramsar sites;2.AWARE that since prehistoric times human settlements have been established near wetlands for reasons, inter alia, of trade and defence, that the world is becoming increasingly urbanized, and that over 50% of the global population now lives in urban environments;3.NOTING that "urban wetlands" are those wetlands lying within the boundaries of cities, towns and other conurbations and that "peri-urban wetlands" are those wetlands located adjacent to an urban area between the suburbs and rural areas;4.RECOGNIZING that wetlands in urban and peri-urban environments can deliver many important ecosystem services to people, such as wastewater treatment, and ALSO RECOGNIZING that urban green space is increasingly known to contribute to people’s physical and mental health and well-being, while ACKNOWLEDGING that urban wetlands can also be sources of diseases such as malaria;5.FURTHER RECOGNIZING the important role that urban and peri-urban wetlands can play in communication, education, participation and awareness for urban communities about wetlands, as well as the value of establishing education and visitor centres in such places;6.RECOGNIZING that urban and peri-urban wetlands perform important functions in the improvement of neighbouring community environments, and provide safety nets for the communities living in these areas, both through the buffering effect of wetlands in riverine and coastal areas and through the role of wetlands in reducing impacts associated with climate variability;7.CONCERNED that many wetlands in urban and peri-urban environments are or are becoming degraded through encroachment of surrounding populations, pollution, poorly managed waste and infilling or other developments, and that these activities have diminished both the ecosystem services that urban wetlands can provide and the recognition of their value and importance by both decision-makers and urban communities;8.ALSO CONCERNED that the spread of urbanization is leading to wetlands, including Ramsar sites, that were formerly in rural areas becoming increasingly urbanized, with consequent increased risk of their degradation through, for example, ecosystem fragmentation and exploitation;9.RECOGNIZING the crucial role of capacity building in enabling local governments, including municipalities, to ensure the conservation and wise use of wetlands in urban and peri-urban areas under their jurisdiction;10.AWARE that much of the increasing urbanization is occurring in coastal and downstream parts of river catchments and that the demand for water for human use in these areas is increasing, and CONCERNED that many river basins are already water-stressed because of the levels of upstream abstractions;11.ALSO CONCERNED about the increasingly adverse impacts on wetlands of the consumption patterns of urban populations and the increasing demand from cities on the Earth’s wetland ecosystems for water and other natural resources and services provided by wetlands; and12.AWARE of the Curitiba Declaration on Cities and Biodiversity, adopted in 2007 by a meeting of mayors and other senior representatives of host cities of meetings of the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), host cities of UN chapters, and cities that have specific strategies with regard to biodiversity, through which commitments to integrate biodiversity concerns into urban planning have been reaffirmed; and ALSO AWARE of Decision IX/28 of CBD COP9 (2008) on "Promoting engagement of cities and local authorities";The Conference of the Contracting Parties13.URGES all Contracting Parties to pay due attention to the importance of their wetlands in urban and peri-urban environments and to take appropriate measures to conserve and protect these wetlands, while giving due consideration to different national circumstances in each case;14.ALSO URGES all Contracting Parties to review the state of their urban and peri-urban wetlands and, where needed, to put in place schemes for their restoration and rehabilitation so that they can deliver their full range of ecosystem services to people and biodiversity;15.FURTHER URGES Contracting Parties to formulate and implement their land-use planning and management so as to minimize further future impacts on urban wetlands and on those currently in peri-urban or rural situations that are vulnerable to urban encroachment, and ENCOURAGES Contracting Parties to provide the most valuable urban or peri-urban wetlands with appropriate conservation measures, with the intention of allowing as many people as possible to have access to areas with preserved high nature values and providing good opportunities for awareness raising, within sustainable limits;16.EMPHASIZES the value of Ramsar site designations in the vicinity of urban centres as a key contribution to safeguarding important ecosystems against inappropriate urban encroachment;17.INVITES the International Organization Partners, particularly those with national or local representation, to take pro-active steps, as far as possible, to facilitate the mobilisation of funding for technical support and capacity building for local authorities, in order to assist local authorities to advance the sustainable management of urban wetlands, and FURTHER INVITES the International Organization Partners to seek out opportunities for the development of partnership programmes between local authorities of different countries for urban wetland conservation, either directly or through the respective Ramsar Administrative Authorities;18.***[paragraph 18 repealed by Annex 1 of Review of Resolutions and Recommendations of the Conference of the Contracting Parties]19.***[paragraph 19 repealed by Annex 1 of Review of Resolutions and Recommendations of the Conference of the Contracting Parties]20.REQUESTS Contracting Parties and others that have established such education and visitor facilities to report to the Secretariat on their experiences and achievements so that they can be shared with other Parties that are developing such facilities, including through the Wetland Link International (WLI) mechanism;21.ENCOURAGES local governments and elected officials, including the mayors of cities, particularly those that have hosted meetings of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention and that have urban and peri-urban wetlands, to connect with the CBD initiative on cities and biodiversity;22.ENCOURAGES Contracting Parties to involve municipalities in their planning processes and operational actions on wetland conservation and wise use in order to seek contributions from municipalities, including their physical planning departments, a) to assess the direct and indirect environmental impacts of urban areas on wetlands and b) to preserve or increase ecological functionality of urban and peri-urban wetlands and protect them from the negative impacts of the increasing urban consumption of wetland products and ecosystem services;23.ENCOURAGES Contracting Parties to give recognition to local governments that exhibit exemplary management interventions, including wise use in urban and peri-urban wetlands, and to document best practices for dissemination;24.INVITES Contracting Parties to seek ways to encourage public-private collaboration for advancing sustainable management of urban wetlands, in line with the principles for partnerships between the Ramsar Convention and the business sector as set out in Resolution X.12;25.INVITES the Ramsar Secretariat to explore ways and means of establishing collaborative links with the UN human settlements programme (UN-HABITAT) concerning the promotion of social and environmental sustainability of towns and cities in relation to wetlands and water;26.***[paragraph 26 repealed by Annex 1 of Review of Resolutions and Recommendations of the Conference of the Contracting Parties]27.***[paragraph 27 repealed by Annex 1 of Review of Resolutions and Recommendations of the Conference of the Contracting Parties]