The easy answer is that every natural, aquatic habitat around the world needs our support. Founding ICWRP partners have, nevertheless, prioritized sites that match existing organizational mechanisms at the Ramsar Secretariat and UNESCO's World Heritage program. These sites have been targeted and recognized for protection—both domestically and globally—due to their aesthetic, ecological, and scientific value to local communities.

All World Heritage and/or Ramsar sites with substantial aquatic value, then, are eligible to be sponsored through ICWRP projects.

For large scale projects, the United Nations Foundation and The Nature Conservancy have agreed to offer matching funds to World Heritage sites located in the developing world, allowing corporate and other contributions to go further toward needed site conservation in countries where local financial resources are often stretched too thin to ensure adequate protection.

For small scale projects, Ramsar facilitates aquatic habitat projects that are in developing or transitional countries, or fall under their Wetlands for the Future Fund, a funding partnership with the US government that targets aquatic habitat in Latin America and the Caribbean.

We welcome you to explore the remarkable geographic, ecological, and aesthetic diversity of World Heritage (.pdf, 518 kb) and Ramsar (.pdf, 269 kb) sites with aquatic value to better appreciate the majesty of these sites or to guide your philanthropic contribution.

ICWRP Project List
The ICWRP pilot project is commencing at the Sian Ka’an World Heritage / Ramsar site in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Download a fact sheet (.pdf, 260 kb) on the project.