Pakistan is a party to many international conventions and treaties related to climate and environmental protection. Pakistan’s most recent endeavour in this domain is the Climate Change Act 2016, which will implement the provisions of all the international environmental treaties related to the protection of environment and addressing the issue of global warming. Pakistan, in recent years, is actively working with global partners to acquire sufficient means to implement international best practices through national training programmes and public awareness campaigns to forge a national consensus on the issue of climate change and environmental protection. The Ramsar Convention is one such treatythat Pakistan signed in 1976. The convention derived its name from the Iranian city of Ramsar where its negotiations took place.Representatives from eighteen governments met to finalise the terms of treaty on February2, 1971 in theConvention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat, later renamed the Ramsar Convention. It is an international treaty that providesthe framework for conservation of wetland habitats. It is the first global nature conservation convention, and it is, by far, the only global convention that address the specific requirements of a single type of ecosystem. The major objectives of the Ramsar Convention are to prevent the loss of wetlands. Each year February 2 is marked as the World’s Wetlands Day to raise awareness about the importance of wetlands and how human activity in and around these habitats pose an imminent threat towetlands around the globe. As of January 2016, 169 states are party to the convention. There are currently over 2,300 Ramsar sites around the world, covering over 2.1 square kilometres. There are three estuaries in Pakistan, the largest is the Indus estuary on the Sindh coast, while the other two small estuaries are Hingol and Dasht, both located in Balochistan. Pakistan mangroves wetland along the Indus delta is 129,000 hectares, and estimated 3,000 hectares in MianiHor, Kalmat Khor and Gwadar Bay Area, which together form the world’s 10th largest mangroves area. Pakistan has been able to list only 19 sites covering an area of 1,343,627 hectares out of the convention’s 2,300 sites, a target that the Ramsar Convention achieved in February 2012. Pakistan needs to focus on conservation of its natural habitats by devising concrete policies to stop their further erosion It is in the best interest of Pakistan to conserve and protect its fast diminishing wetlands. Apart from its other uses, such as the anti-flood potential of these wetlands, Pakistan needs to focus on conservation of its natural habitats by devising concrete policies to stop their further erosion. In 2012,the Ramsar Advisory Mission’s experts visited Pakistan and pointed out various areas forrestoration of wetlands. They urged Pakistan to use floodwaters intelligently andsuggested to implement China’s Yangtze River Basin management plan, which was developed after massive floods in 1998. The plan helped China reclaim floodplains and restore wetlands. This year on World’s Wetlands Day, various Pakistani Universities arranged seminars and conferences to highlight the importance of Wetlands.Their conservation is not only good for our country but for the whole world. The Ramsar sites around the globe, under a treaty framework, offer a unique opportunity for all countries to expand their cooperation in environment and habitat related frameworks. Pakistan’s wetlands are habitat to many migratory birds. There are 668 species of birds in total, and 380 species of migratory birds visit the Ramsar habitats in Pakistan. We need to devise and implement strict policies for the protection of theRamsar sites.According to a media report, a prominent Ramsar site along theDrigh Lakewas illegally occupied by an influential politician. The provincial government took solid steps to end the occupation, and the investigation is underway. The “Billion-tree Tsunami” is a well-known project launched by the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2014. The project is the first of the kind in Pakistan; it exclusively talks about the restoration of forest land in Pakistan.In recent years, political opponents of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf used this project as a political tool to malign the party for electoral gains, signalling for the first time that climate change or environment related issues can be politicised in Pakistan because of the low level of public awareness about climate change and environmental protection issues. A recent report declared that Colombia is the worst country for environmental activists. Colombia is in the midst of raising a military unit to protect the national parks. Pakistani politicians should refrain from using environmental issues for their electoral and political gains. This kind of politics can have serious implications for Pakistan’s mission to adhere to international environmental treaty commitments. It is in the best interest of Pakistan to implement its provisions, as it is a country muchaffected by climate change. Every Pakistani government needs to devote necessary resources to the assigned ministry, and through parliamentary consensus lawmakers must shield it from dissolution or deformation when the government changes. The ministry of climate change should employ the best minds to disseminate the importance of environmental treaties and their effects on Pakistan. Sadly, the ministry is not taking any innovative steps to attract public and come up with agendas that can fast track the implementation of international agreements. Parliament can be the best forum for such agendas. The website of the climate change ministry also needs to be updated. It should be used to spread awareness and educate the youth about environmental protection and treaties’ role in that. The ministry can launch a new website and a mobile app, carrying all the information on Pakistan in global environmental treaties regime. So far, no comprehensive online governmental portal is available dedicated to Pakistan’s efforts in international climate negotiations and environmental protection and its national implementation. The writer is an MSc student at National Defence University, Islamabad