World Wetlands Day 2002: Senegal
SAPAD SENEGAL
BP 12 322 COLOBANE
DAKAR SENEGAL
TEL. +221-827 38 14
FAX. +221-827 38 15
EMAIL. sapad@fagaru.org
Web site: www.fagaru.org
To Whom It May Concern
On behalf of Direction des Parcs Nationaux du Senegal and its local partners in the Saloum river Delta Biosphere reserve we hereby invite you to celebrate with us the World Wetlands Day, Saturday 2 February 2002.
The celebration is taking place at Fagaru Centre, in the rural district of Toubacouta. Your institution can be represented by up to three delegates.
SAPAD SENEGAL is taking in charge meals and accommodation during your stay for the celebration.
Please confirm your arrival by fax or phone.
Sincerely Yours
Birame DIOUF
Project manager
PROGRAMME
Thursday 31.01.2002
ARRIVAL AND CHECK IN
Friday 01.02.2002
07.30 - 08.30 BREAKFAST
09.00 - 13.00 WORKSHOPS
Workshop 1 - Demonstrative workshop - Restoration of a wetlands
Young volunteers - from the Scouts movement and the national parks volunteers network - are involved in a demonstrative workshop to restore a wetlands at Fagaru Centre.
Workshop 2 - Ecotourism - perspectives for development and promotion
Teachers and technicians from the university in Dakar and other leading institutions, community leaders, youth and other groups are gathered to share information and discuss issues related to nature management, community involvement in biodiversity conservation and perspectives for development and promotion of Ecotourism in the Niumi/RBDS transfrontalier mangrove ecosystems. 2002 is declared by the United Nations as the International Year of Ecotourism, an occasion to celebrate and reflect on status and perspectives.
13.30 - 15.30 LUNCH
15.45 - 18.00 WORKSHOP - Conclusion and Recommendations
18.30 - 19.30 VIDEO PROJECTION
20.00 - 21.00 DINER
21.30 - 23.00 FILM PROJECTION at Soukouta, a nearby village
Theme: Conserving marine biodiversity
Saturday 02.02.2002 - WORLD WETLANDS DAY -
07.30 - 08.30 BREAKFAST
09.00 - 10.00 SETTING UP THE EXHIBITIONS
Direction des Parcs nationaux, local organisations, the Scouts movement, international non-governmental organisations are invited to present their organisations, programmes and projects. Space is available for organisations wishing to benefit from this opportunity to display information.
10.00 - 11.00 VISIT OF SOUTOUTO - A sacred groves and a ecological sanctuary inside the premises of Fagaru Centre
11.00 - 11.30 ARRIVAL OF THE OFFICIALS
11.30 - 12.30 OFFICIAL CEREMONY
12.30 -13.00 VISIT OF THE EXHIBITIONS
13.30 - 15.30 LUNCH
15.45 - 18.30 Celebrating Wetlands, Life and Cultures
With the participation of local cultural groups, women's group, games and entertainment for all age groups
18.30 - 19.30 VISIT of SOUTOUTO and its immediate surroundings
20.00 - 21.00 DINNER
21.00 - 23.00 FILM PROJECTION at Missira, a nearby village
Theme: Conserving marine biodiversity
Sunday 03.02.2002
08.00 - 10.00 Breakfast
10.00 - 12.00 Departure
Wetlands: Water, Life, and Culture
What is World Wetlands Day? 2 February each year is World Wetlands Day. It marks the date of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. WWD was celebrated for the first time in 1997 and made an encouraging beginning. Subsequent World Wetlands Days have been organized around such suggested themes as the importance of water to life and of wetlands to the supply of water and, in 1999, on "People and Wetlands: the Vital Link".
Each year, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and groups of citizens at all levels of the community have taken advantage of the opportunity to undertake actions aimed at raising public awareness of wetland values and benefits in general and the Ramsar Convention in particular.
From 1997 to 2001, the Convention's Web site has posted reports from more than 60 countries of WWD activities of all sizes and shapes, from lectures and seminars, nature walks, children's art contests, sampan races, and community clean-up days, to radio and television interviews and letters to newspapers, to the launch of new wetland policies, new Ramsar sites, and new programmes at the national level.
Wetlands: Water, Life, and Culture
The suggested theme for World Wetlands Day 2002 is "Wetlands: Water, Life, and Culture". Wetlands are a storehouse of cultural heritage which takes many forms, from human-made physical structures and artefacts, palaeontological records in sediments and peat, and traditional water and land-use management practices, to places of religious and mythological significance and the intangible 'sense of place' felt by many for these wild and often mysterious sites and their wildlife.
Throughout its history, the work of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands has emphasized the importance of people in conservation efforts: their livelihoods, their welfare, their traditions and beliefs, their leisure as well as their work - not only their economic and social well-being, but their "cultural heritage" as well. Increasingly, the Parties have observed that there is much common ground in the biodiversity and heritage management of wetlands.
Standing Committee has chosen for the 8th COP (Valencia, Spain, 18-26 November 2002) the theme "Wetlands: water, life, and culture", and that one of the COP's five Technical Sessions will be on "Cultural aspects of wetlands as a tool for their conservation and sustainable use". In order to contribute to this process, the suggested theme for the 6th World Wetlands Day, 2 February 2002, will be the same as COP8's: "Wetlands: water, life, and culture". Government agencies, non-governmental organizations, site managers and citizens are invited to explore cultural issues in their national and local contexts and seek to make their publics more aware of the cultural as well as the natural values of their wetlands.
