Notification

Mechanisms to notify Contracting Parties of milestones in the RIS update process

Date: 11.11.2025

To: Heads of Administrative Authorities and National Focal Points
In Decision SC64-31, the Standing Committee requested the Secretariat to develop a mechanism to notify Contracting Parties of milestones in the Ramsar Information Sheet (RIS) update process and to add a flag in the Ramsar Sites Information Service highlighting overdue updates.
 
Automated email notifications
 
Automated email notifications will be sent to Contracting Parties at the following stages of the RIS update process: 
  • When the Secretariat receives an RIS submission from a Contracting Party. 
  • When the Secretariat has completed its review and provided comments in the Ramsar Sites Information Service (RSIS). 
  • When a Contracting Party submits a revised draft of the RIS in response to comments. 
  • When the final updated RIS is published in the RSIS. 
Contracting Parties may choose to opt out of all or specific stages of notification by visiting their user profile in the RSIS.
 
Status and Update Columns
 
In the table “Designated Ramsar Sites” in the “Manage my Sites” section of the RSIS, two columns have been added to more clearly illustrate the status of the update of Wetlands of International Importance.
1. The Status column shows whether the information on a site is up to date or not:
  • Red text "Out-of-date": the RIS is out of date and requires an update.
  •  “Up-to-date”: the site is up to date.
2. The Update column indicates who currently has the site "in hand" in case there is an ongoing update:
  • “With Party”: The update is currently editable by your team, you can find it in the “Pending Ramsar Sites” list above.
  • “With Secretariat”: The update is being reviewed or processed by the Secretariat and is view-only on your side. To view it, click on the three-dot menu (⋯) in the “Actions” column.
  • “-“: There is no ongoing update in the system.
We hope these improvements will support timely RIS updating.
For any questions or assistance, feel free to reach out to your regional team.
 
Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands
28 rue Mauverney, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 999 0170