Based in Washington, DC, United States, SWS has 3000+ members worldwide, and the membership is open to anyone with an interest in wetlands.
SWS was founded in March 1980 by Richard Macomber, a biologist with the United States Army Corps of Engineers Board of Rivers and Harbors.
[1] Since 2015, the SWS Europe Chapter has been encouraging more robust protection for the Republic of North Macedonia's Lake Ohrid, one of the most biodiverse inland waters on Earth, and the last remains of a previously extensive wetland along its shore, Studenchishte Marsh.
Alongside supporting an initiative by local organizations EDEN and Ohrid SOS to establish both areas jointly as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention.
At its 60th session on March 20, 2018, the government took the decision to proceed with nomination of Studenchishte as both a Monument of Nature (IUCN Category III) and Ramsar Site (alongside Lake Ohrid).