Wetlands
Take Care of our Water!
Celebration of World Wetlands Day at
Gujarat Science City
It's really a celebrating time
in Gujarat as the state has got its first international recognition in the form
of a Ramsar site for Nal Sarovar, spread over an area of 12,000 hectares and home
to 210 different species of birds.
The International recognition of
Nal Sarovar has not only excited the feathered visitors to the place, but also
added lots of interest and excitement among students, teachers and the community
members who are interested to bring the science of wetlands to their classroom
curriculum.
In order to observe the science
of wetlands as an integral part of societal development, the Gujarat Science
City and Gujarat Council on Science & Technology (GUJCOST) have organized a
series of educational programme and outreach activities to celebrate the World
Wetlands Day on the Saturday, 2nd February 2013 across the state on the theme 'Wetlands Take Care of Water'.
The World Wetlands Day is being
celebrated since 1997 every year on 2nd February worldwide to mark the anniversary of the signing of the
Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention) in Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971.
The Ramsar Convention provides a framework for
international cooperation in the conservation and sustainable management of
wetlands.
A day long workshop on the theme has been organized
to provide a hands-on training and activity based modules to aware and educate
the science teachers as well as the DNA Club members of the state. In addition,
there is an illustrative poster exhibition, screening of video films and slide
shows on wetlands and its environmental significance have been organized for the
students and visitors.
The programme will be inaugurated by Shri S. D.
Vora, Chief Conservator of Forests, Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam, Government of
Gujarat at 10.30 hrs in the Auditorium I in Science City. Prof. N. K. Jain,
Head, Environmental Science Division of Gujarat University and Prof. P. C.
Mankodi, Head, Department of Zoology, M. S. University will be the Guest
Faculties to interact with students and teachers on the theme.
School students (5 – 16 years age group) are
encouraged to participate in the poster painting and quiz competition on the
wetlands theme to be held on this day between (11.00 hrs to 16.00 hrs). There
is no registration fee, meritorious students will be rewarded with prizes and
certificates.
The celebration aims to raise public awareness of
wetlands value, benefits and promote the conservation and judicious use of
wetlands for sustainable development. In the line of because UN declaration of
2013 as the International Year for Water Cooperation.
Gujarat Science City is taking a bold step in
designing exciting hands-on activities and minds-on exposure in environment
education integrating with awareness generation, knowledge validation, and
building of skills related to understanding our natural world.
The activities are found to be an ideal way to
integrate classroom curricula, stimulate the academic and social growth of
young people, and promote the conservation of the natural environment and aims
to provide opportunities to be actively involved in restoring, preserving, and
protecting the environment.
Healthy wetlands are good for delivering quality
ecosystem services for the benefit of people, while at the same time meeting
the demands for water for growing crops, supplying energy and responding to the
needs of industry. What is important is to value correctly the ecosystem
services that intact, healthy wetlands supply when decisions on the human uses
of available water are made.
Similar programmes and activities are also being
coordinated and organised by the Community Science Centres, Science Club and
DNA Club students in each districts in the state.
Gujarat is blessed with
more than 1,000 wetlands of which nearly 440 are
coastal and around 390 are inland, including several small and big reservoirs.
The state has remarkable bio-diversity and therefore provides a rich habitat
for a fascinating variety of birds. There are seven wetlands in Gujarat
including the recently six declared, accorded the status of 'Wetlands of
National Importance' bringing them at par with reserves like Chilka lake in
Orissa. These includes: Nalsarovar (Ahmedabad), Little Rann, Greater Rann,
Pariyej (Anand), Wadhwana (Vadodara), Thol (Mehsana) and Khijadia (Jamnagar).
Now the Nalsarovar’s recognition has added feathers to the state as well as its
winged visitors.
Wetlands are among the least protected ecosystems
in developing countries, and India is particularly vulnerable to their
degradation and loss. There are thousands of lakes, ponds, marshes, lagoons,
estuaries, backwaters and mangrove swamps that are vital to the country's water
needs, food production and biodiversity, but environmental policy has largely
failed to acknowledge their contribution.
On the eve of World Wetlands Day, we invite one and all to
work together to spread the awareness to make our wetlands healthy and wealthy
for the sustainable development.
Happy Wetlands Day!
GUJARARAT SCIENCE CITY
Capturing New Heights in Science Literacy!
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