COLUMBUS — Ohio State’s Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park received designation as the 24th Wetland of International Importance in the U.S.
The designation will place the site on the internationally renown Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance, the first Ramsar Wetland of International Importance in Ohio and one of the first in the Midwest.
The Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park is located at 352 W. Dodridge St. It is a 50-acre facility on the Columbus campus designed to provide teaching, research, and service related to wetland and river science and ecological engineering.
There is no other facility of its kind on any other university campus in the world, according to Bill Mitsch, director.
International list
To be added to the Ramsar List, the designation is made initially by the U.S. government and then confirmed by the Ramsar Secretariat, headquartered in Switzerland.
Ohio State’s wetland research park is a nature park, too, providing habitat for a diversity of plants and animals for the residents of central Ohio to observe and enjoy.
