A precondition for wise use is the systematic removal of obstacles, whether political, technical
or other, to the sustainable management of wetlands and water systems. It is implicit in the policymaking
process that such barriers should be identified and strategies developed to remove or
overcome them. Law, for its part, can only support wise use if the components of a country's legal
system (statutes and regulations, case law and possibly customary law) work for, not against this
objective. The review process advocated by the Ramsar Wise Use Guidelines is therefore an
essential component of wetland policy-making, as discussed in the following chapter