With reference to a conservation organization called 'Wetlands International', which of the following statements is/are correct? Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Answer: (b) 2 only

It is an NGO that works in the field and advocates policy.

Statement by statement

1. ✗ WRONG Wetlands International is a global non-profit, not an intergovernmental body formed by Ramsar parties (it is a Ramsar partner organisation).

2. ✓ CORRECT It works in the field and uses that experience to push for better policies.

The idea

The Ramsar Convention is the treaty between governments. Around it work six partner organisations that are not governments. Wetlands International is one of them. A partner of a treaty is not a body created by the treaty.

Countries sign the Ramsar Convention (1971) → Each lists wetlands of international importance → Partner NGOs count birds and study sites → Their field data shows which wetlands are declining → They press governments for better policy

The trap

The name sounds official, like the Ramsar secretariat.

Elimination technique

Statement 1 is a parentage claim (“formed by the countries which are signatories to…”). Such claims are usually false in Environment PYQs, which removes (a) and (c).

Also know

Ramsar’s six partner organisations: BirdLife International, IUCN, International Water Management Institute, Wetlands International, WWF and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust. Wetlands International is based in the Netherlands and runs the Asian Waterbird Census every January. The Ramsar secretariat sits with IUCN at Gland; Ramsar is not a UN convention.