New videos on wetlands and fishing communities in the La Plata Basin, Argentina

Good morning everyone:

Below is some interesting information from Fundación PROTEGER, the NGO CEPA Focal Point for Ramsar, on a whole range of videos they have prepared and made available on their web site on wetlands and fisheries (in Spanish). This has come from their on-going work over many years with local communities, especially fisherman, in the La Plat Basin, Argentina. You can view the videos here http://www.proteger.org..ar/videos. Please note that I have had some difficulties in viewing the videos online in my office but have succeeded with most of them in the end!

For further information, please contact Leticia Isaurralde from PROTEGER (rios.proteger@arnet.com.ar).

With best regards, Sandra Hails, Ramsar Secretariat
*****************************************************************

Argentina / La Plata Basin

PRESENTING NEW VIDEOS ON WETLANDS AND FISHING COMMUNITIES

Santa Fe, 16 October 2009 .- These are especially useful for schools, youth groups and people interested in riparian functions, values and services of wetlands and some of the initiatives for conservation and adding value to these resources . The videos, available for viewing and downloading online, provide an educational toolkit and training which includes power point presentations and a newsletter with pictures and diagrams specially prepared by the media team of PROTEGER. It has also been announced a series of new videos for Voces del Chaco a novel project that initiated the implementation of short documentaries with communities of farmers, fishermen and indigenous people and their dissemination via the Internet.

Videos to display and download online: http://www.proteger.org.ar/videos

Santa Fe, 16th October 2009  (PROTEGER media) .- A new series of documentaries, educational and training videos was presented by PROTEGER as part of its program of communication in support to initiatives of wetlands management and value added in the hands of riverside communities of the Plata Basin.

Wetlands, sources of water , life and livelihood; “Manjares del Litoral”, responsible fishing, sustainable production; Redepesca, a Network of  Fishworkers from Fluvial Littoral, are three videos that PROTEGER produced in the framework of the Evian Water Protection Institutes of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, based in Gland, Switzerland.

These three videos are characterized by their simple and precise language, and shots taken mainly in traditional fishing communities located in coastal areas of the Paraná and Paraguay Rivers. The videos highlight the two Ramsar sites of the river coast of Argentina, which forms a wetland corridor about 500 kilometers from the confluence of the Bermejo River with the Paraguay River to the south.

The video series is particularly useful for students and teachers from schools in the region -northeastern coast of the country and also for youth groups and riverside communities interested in knowing the functions, values and services of wetlands and some of the ongoing initiatives for conservation and value addition of resources in these ecosystems.

At present three Water Protection Institutes projects are being developed , one in Argentina with PROTEGER -in Chaco Wetlands Ramsar Site and Ramsar site Jaaukanigás, Santa Fe; another in Nepal in Jagadishpur Reservoir wetland implemented by Bird Conservation Nepal, the BirdLife affiliate there; and a third one in Thailand in the Ramsar site Beung Kong Long, conducted by WWF Thailand. The agreement to create the Ecoles de protection de l’eau (the Water Protection Institutes) was signed in 2008 in order to further Ramsar and Danone/Evian collaboration in aid of concrete projects on the ground that serve to implement the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources

The direction and screenplay  was in charge of  Betania Cappato, Patricio Agusti did the editing, mounting and animations, Nicholas Sarudiansky the sound, Pattie Rodelli the drawings and the texts by Julieta Peteán, Carina Diaz the assistant of production. The general realization of the video is the result of cooperation between PROTEGER and ECOFILMSA Productions.
The videos, available at www.proteger.org.ar/videos, are also part of an educational and training tool-box that includes presentations and a newsletter with pictures and diagrams specially prepared by the media team of PROTEGER.
http://www.proteger.org.ar/download/archivos/BoletinEscuelaAgua2009.pdf
Wetlands, sources of water, life and livelihood

Available at: http://www.proteger.org.ar/doc869.html

“It's a simple-language and dynamic video, designed to introduce the topic to those who are unaware of what a wetland is, how it works, what their environmental and social importance are, and why their conservation is essential. It is ideal to be screened at schools and work with adolescents. This new series of videos is also a contribution to the program of Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA) of the Ramsar Convention”, said Juliet Peteán, of the Water, Wetlands and Fisheries Program of PROTEGER and author of the texts.

The specialist Juan Jose Neiff clearly explains in the video the basic concepts and threats to wetlands, highlighting the importance of education and participation of all sectors for conservation and sustainable use.

“The film was conceived didactically, as well as documentary images and interviews it also includes eye-catching animations such as maps and drawings, which reinforce the theoretical concepts in an entertaining way”,  says Federico Gonzalez Brizzio, responsible for Communications of PROTEGER.

Redepesca, coastal fishermen

Available at: http://www.proteger.org.ar/doc871.html

This documentary was filmed along the coast of the Paraná River from Rosario to Formosa, covering Paraná, Reconquista, Corrientes and Resistencia, Chaco. Visiting fishing ports, but also inside the islands where fishermen have their huts.

“The idea was to record testimonies from communities explaining the initiative and which are the most urgent issues for them, as well as the achievements in these years of working together”, explained Gonzalez Brizzio.

The video is a communication tool for groups of fishermen who have been working together and is also a way to carry their voice to other areas of society, inviting other communities to join the proposal and to replicate this type of experience – points out.

Manjares del Litoral

Available at: http://www.proteger.org.ar/doc870.html

The film is a kind of presenting to the public the line of organic food “Manjares del Litoral” based on added value to various species of river fish. Preserved, smoked fish and pâté are produced by the first cooperative in its kind in Santa Fe and Reconquista.

“The video shows how you can innovate in this case in terms of food, contributing to the care of the fisheries and improve the quality of life in the river coast, generating employment locally and taking good care of health through high quality food in the line of the concepts of Slow Food” -indicates Peteán.

New videos on Voces del Chaco

Meanwhile, PROTEGER has also announced that in collaboration with Urundei Foundation, based in Salta, Argentina, and Yangareko Foundation, with offices in Santa Cruz and Villamontes, Bolivia, have performed a series of short videos for the initiative Voces del Chaco.

Fishing Gears, Fishing Monitors of Paraná River; Loggers (Santa Fe Forest Wedge) Toba Art (west communities of Formosa), and Naturaleza Viva: Agroecology in Action (an organic family farm experience pioneer in the Gran Chaco), are some of the new titles made by Betania Cappato and Alonzo Zarzycki, with a team comprised by Patricio Agusti-assembly and animations, and members of local communities as characters and reporters.

Voces del Chaco is an innovative project that has initiated the realization of videos with scattered communities of farmers, fishermen and indigenous people and their dissemination via the Internet. These short film productions seek to give greater visibility to local communities and their activities in support to conservation and sustainable development with equity in the Gran Chaco. Video Voices, a pilot initiative, through Urundei Exchange, seeks to bring the voices of rural and coastal villages within the global village which the Internet makes viable.

Voces del Chaco. Portal Cuenca del Plata - Gran Chaco
http://www.cuencadelplata-granchaco.org/2009/07/video-voices/
**********************************************************************************************************