Legal anchoring of the Ramsar Convention in Austria

In 1983 the Austrian National Assembly adopted the first Austrian Federal Law on the “Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat” (Federal Law Gazette No. 225/1983).

The Ramsar Sites added since 1983 are listed in Federal Laws 153/2004, Federal Law Gazette 12/2006, Federal Law Gazette 164/2011, Federal Law Gazette 147/2013, Federal Law Gazette 164 /2013, and Federal Law Gazette 117/2014. 

The Ramsar Convention is a treaty under international law. This commits the contracting states according to international rules and regulations. It is up to the contracting states in which form they implement the Ramsar Convention on national level.
 
In Austria, matters of nature conservation fall within the competence of the nine Federal Provinces; therefore, the conservation of wetlands is essentially regulated by the laws on nature conservation and landscape protection.

Fisheries, too, is based on - partly very different - provincial fisheries laws and to the associated implementing ordinances in Austria.