Wetlands are simply habitats with permanent or temporary accumulation of water with associated floral and faunal communities. Interest in wetlands initially revolved around exploitation of the associated natural resources, mainly through waterfowl hunting. These interests resulted in the Convention on Wetlands,referred to as the Ramsar Convention – an intergovernmental framework for wetland conservation, being adopted in 1971. At this historic meeting held in Ramsar, Iran, a consensus evolved on a broad definition for wetlands. Designed to provide international protection to the widest possible group of wetland ecosystems, the Ramsar convention has defined wetlands as follows:

"Areas of marsh, fen, peat land or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres." The wetlands of Sri Lanka, which fit into the Ramsar definition, can be divided into three broad categories:

• Inland natural fresh water wetlands (e.g. rivers, stream, marshes, swamp forests andvillus)

• Marine and salt water wetlands (e.g. lagoons, estuaries, mangroves, sea grass beds, and coral reefs)

• Man-made wetlands (e.g. tanks, reservoirs, rice fields and salterns)