Iran hosted a meeting to save the world's wetlands in 1971. The Ramsar Convention - named after the village on the Caspian Sea where it was originally signed - is seen as the first of the modem global intergovernmental treaties on the sustainable use of natural resources.  Claire Bowes has been speaking to the Belgian representative, Eckhart Kuijken, about the battle by conservationists to interest people and governments in the value of wetlands. He describes how his home country had no planning laws protecting natural landscapes until 1962 - so that many were lost to industry and agriculture. Photo: Hawizeh Marsh in Iran. Credit: courtesy of the Convention on Wetlands

Saving the world's wetlands

History as told by the people who were there.

History

Society & Culture

On 13 December 1990, the anti-apartheid politician Oliver Tambo returned to South Africa after 30 years in exile.  As the president of the banned African National Congress (ANC), he had lived in Zambia building the liberation movement while other key ANC members including Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu were political prisoners.  By lobbying around the world and attracting talented South African exiles such as Thabo Mbeki, he built the organisation into a legitimate contender for government.  When President FW de Klerk unbanned the ANC, Oliver or OR Tambo was finally able to return home where he was greeted by a crowd of thousands at the airport. Oliver Tambo’s son, Dali Tambo, recalls to Josephine McDermott how his father and other ANC exiles danced in the aisle of the plane as they crossed into South African airspace. (Photo: Oliver Tambo at Jan Smuts Airport. Credit: AP/John Parkin)

Oliver Tambo returns to South Africa from exile

Brenda Fassie was one of South Africa's biggest pop stars in the late 1980s. The singer’s career nosedived in 1990, but her comeback saw her dubbed the 'Madonna of the townships' by Time magazine. Yvonne Chaka Chaka, born a year after Brenda, was perhaps the only South African pop star who could rival her popularity. Twenty years ago, in 2004, Brenda died Yvonne celebrates Brenda's life with Ben Henderson. (Photo Brenda Fassie, a South African pop star, performing on stage. Credit :ALEXANDER JOE/AFP via Getty Images.)

Brenda Fassie: Madonna of the townships

In August 2002, the remains of an indigenous South African woman called Sarah Baartman were returned to South Africa after almost 200 years away. Sarah died in Paris in 1815 after being forced to perform in European 'freak shows' where people considered to be biological rarities were paraded for entertainment. She had been subjected to racist and degrading treatment and her remains were exhibited at a French museum until 1976.  When Nelson Mandela became the president of South Africa in 1994, he requested that Sarah's remains be returned to her homeland. However, by 1998 that had not happened. Poet Diana Ferrus decided to write about Sarah’s limbo. Her poem became so popular that it was noticed by politicians in France. Diana shares her memories of that time with Matt Pintus. This programme contains discriminatory language. (Photo: Sarah Baartman likeness at French museum. Credit: Getty Images)

Sarah Baartman's 200-year journey back home

When South African schoolchildren marched in protest against having to study Afrikaans in 1976, they were gunned down by the police. The killings sparked a cycle of protests across the country against the racist apartheid regime. In 2010, march organiser Bongi Mkhabela told Alan Johnston about her memories of the Soweto uprising. (Photo: Protestors on the march. Credit: Bongani Mnguni/CityPress/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Soweto uprising: Children who marched against apartheid

On 18 March 1992, white South Africans overwhelmingly backed a mandate for political reforms to end apartheid and create a power-sharing multi-racial government.  It was a high-stakes referendum coming on the back of three by-elections where the ruling National Party had lost to the right wing Conservative party.  In a speech after the polling victory, President FW de Klerk said: “Today we have closed the book on apartheid”. His communications adviser, David Steward speaks to Josephine McDermott. (Photo: President FW de Klerk with news of the referendum win. Credit: AP)

Saving the world's wetlands

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