PICCANINNIE Ponds in South Australia's South-East will join the ranks of the world's most important wetlands.

The network of springs and limestone caves is now a Ramsar site, ranked alongside the like of the Everglades National Park in the US, the Danube Delta in eastern Europe, Loch Lomond in Scotland, and Kakadu National Park in the Top End.

The State Government nominated the site for listing under the Ramsar Convention, which aims to halt the worldwide loss of wetlands and to conserve, through wise use and management, those that remain.

Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke said the announcement marked Australia's first addition to the Ramsar list in almost six years, following the Paroo River Wetlands in New South Wales in 2007.

"In adding Piccaninnie Ponds to the Ramsar list, Australia is committing to its conservation and wise use," he said.

"Ramsar listing provides further protection to the site as Ramsar sites are a matter of National Environmental Significance under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act."

Mr Burke said South Australia was "home to some of the world's most spectacular Ramsar wetlands including the iconic Chowilla floodplain and the Coorong."

"Australia's commitment to conserving Ramsar sites, such as the Coorong and Lower Lakes, has been instrumental in the Australian Government's making of the Murray- Darling Basin Plan and to the recovery of water for the environment," he said.

The Cave Divers Association of Australia describes Piccaninnie Ponds, located 32km south-east of Mt Gambier, as "one of Australia's most popular cave diving locations, with a spectacular chasm dropping to great depths, a beautiful white cathedral and attractive aquatic weed growth in the clear water".

Association member Richard Harris, of Toorak Gardens, said Piccaninnie was "world class".

"It's just so beautiful, from the shallow pond to the deep chasm, a breathtaking site with crystal clear water," Mr Harris said.

The permanent freshwater wetlands are a drought refuge for many animals including threatened species.

South Australian Environment Minister Ian Hunter said previous generations of Bunganditj (Boandik) people lived permanently in huts near the wetlands, which provided abundant food supplies.

He said it was hard to imagine from the surface that the extensive springs extended more than 110m down below.

NATURAL WONDERS OF THE WORLD

Australia has 65 sites on the List of Wetlands of International Importance, which was developed under the Ramsar convention. Six of these sites are in SA:

Coorong, Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert

Bool and Hacks Lagoons

Coongie Lakes

Riverland

Banrock Station Wetland Complex

Piccaninnie Ponds

Globally, there are more than 2000 sites on the Ramsar list such as:

Everglades National Park, US

Danube Delta, Romania

North Norfolk Coast, UK

Lake Chilwa, Malawi, Africa

Kakadu National Park, Australia

Loch Lomond, Scotland

Queen Maud Gulf, Canada

Wadden Sea, Denmark

Portsmouth Harbour, UK

Lago (Lake) Titicaca, Bolivia.