Sierra Club California
	Ramsar Wetlands Task Force

Introduction

The newest nomination for "Wetlands of International Importance" under the "Ramsar" Convention that has been submitted for consideration to the US Fish and Wildlife Office of International Affairs is the Southern California Coastal Wetlands Complex.  This complex consists of twenty remaining coastal wetlands along a 200-mile stretch of Southern California coastline from the Mugu Lagoon north of Los Angeles to the Tijuana Estuary at the California/Mexico border.

Background information on the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands can be found by clicking on the following web link:  Ramsar Convention on Wetlands .

According to Dr. Joy Zedler, wetlands scientist at the Pacific Estuarine Research Laboratory (PERL), who has served on the nominating committee for this region's Ramsar site, "Each of these remaining coastal wetlands has many unique features."   Dr. Zedler is this year's National Wetlands Award recipient for science research, awarded by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Environmental Law Institute.

The pending nomination of the Southern California Coastal Wetlands Complex is important for several reasons:

• 1) This will be the first United States Ramsar nomination in several years;
• 2) This will be the first nomination in the United States since the 1996 Australia Ramsar Convention adopted new guidelines to focus on the importance of the diversity and biological importance of coastal wetlands, expanding previous emphasis on inland "wetlands, especially for waterfowl."
• 3) The Southern California Coastal Wetlands Complex lies in a crucial location -- at the heart of the Pacific Flyway, stretching from the deltas in Alaska to the mangrove swamps of Central America.  Thsi heart is very sick and in need of particular care, as more than 95% of the historical wetlands in this region have been lost to oil drilling, agribusiness and coastal development.  The significance of these remaining coastal wetlands to the continuing health of the Pacific Flyway cannot be underestimated.
• 4) These wetlands offer a unique value to Pacific Coast fisheries, "Wetlands here do not yield food chain support by sheer organic matter produced, as they may elsewhere.   Instead, food chain support arises from the use of the wetlands in special ways by the young of a few stocks... Prey selectivity suggests that quality or availability is more important than amount."  (Onuf and Quammen -- quoted in Tidal Wetland Restoration by Dr. Joy Zedler.)
• 5) Southern California has a high and ever-increasing population density, adding greater possibility of disturbance or destruction of coastal wetland habitat and substantial challenges to successful wetland restoration.
• 6) This nomination site lies in what E.O. Wilson refers to as one of the world's "hot spots," in terms of biodiversity.  In San Diego County, the southernmost portion of the nomination site, there are more species of birds than in any county in the nation, according to the National Audubon Society.

Sierra Club and Wetlands Action Network have joined forces to forward this nomination, along with several prominent wetland protection experts and concerned citizens.

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Sierra Club California (state legislative office), 1414 K Street, Suite 300, Sacramento, CA 95814-3929. Telephone +1-916-557-1100 (voice); +1-916-557-9669 (FAX). E-mail: sierra.club.california@sierraclub.org

Sierra Club, 85 Second St., Second Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105-3441, USA. Telephone (415) 977-5500 (voice), (415) 977-5799 (FAX). Last updated 11 June 1997.