News from the CEPA e-mail list

Some news on WWD initiatives (17/02/05)

Good morning everyone:

World Wetlands Day has come and gone, and our poor Webmaster has all but disappeared beneath a mountain of reports from all over the world! Over the coming weeks more reports will go up on our Web site but in the meantime I have selected two WWD events reported to us that I would like to share with you to exemplify the range of WWD activities. The first is a new partnership between the NGO Ducks Unlimited and Project WET, a nonprofit water education programme and publisher based in the USA, and the second is an innovative partnership that will develop "Green Rooms" at Brazilian Ramsar Sites.

Best wishes, Sandra Hails, Ramsar Secretariat
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1. New Education Partnership Highlights World Wetlands Day - Ducks Unlimited & Project WET Join Forces

Ducks Unlimited (DU) and Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) today announced an education partnership to celebrate World Wetlands Day that will benefit water, wetlands, wildlife and people across North America. The new partnership between the world leader in wetlands conservation (DU) and the U.S. leader in water and wetlands education (Project WET) harnesses the power of both organizations to educate more and more young people about the importance of wetlands and water resources. The partnership is also part of DU's launch of its new continent-North American wide wetlands education program called Project Webfoot.

"Project WET has a proven track record of delivering outstanding water and wetlands education to K-12 students," said DU Executive Vice President Don Young. "This partnership provides a solid foundation for Ducks Unlimited to build our Project Webfoot program. Education is critical to the future of wetlands, to which humankind's own future is so closely tied."

Project WET Executive Director Dennis Nelson is also excited about the partnership. "Ducks Unlimited is synonymous with wetlands conservation," he said. "Water education is all about teaching students to think for themselves and understand that clean and plentiful water just doesn't happen. It takes the efforts of countless people to make a difference."

Project WET is active in the United States, Canada, Mexico and 14 other countries and is based in Bozeman, Montana. Project WET annually reaches thousands of K-12 teachers and millions of students with water education materials and programming.

DU has nearly 70,000 school-aged members in what it calls its Greenwing program and worked with its counterpart in Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC), to design a new wetlands education program for educators and students. DUC has another 38,000 Greenwing and student members actively involved in its education programs. Art DeLaurier, Jr. is DU's coordinator for Project Webfoot. "Having access to Project WET's water education curriculum, wetlands education materials and training base in all 50 states is a real plus for us," he said. "As the program grows, it will allow us to reach beyond the initial target of Project Webfoot-grades 4 through 6-to all students in all grades."

With more than a million supporters, Ducks Unlimited is the world's largest wetlands and waterfowl conservation organization. The United States alone has lost more than half of its original wetlands - nature's most productive ecosystems - and continues to lose more than 100,000 wetland acres each year.

Look for Ducks Unlimited on the World Wide Web at www.ducks.org and Project WET at www.projectwet.org. Contact: Art DeLaurier, Jr., Ducks Unlimited Project Webfoot Coordinator, +1-901-758-3814 or John Etgen, Project WET VP Development and Partnerships, +1-406-994-5392

2. Brazilian Ramsar Sites will have "Green Rooms"

On WWD 2005, the Brazilian Administrative Authority - the Ministry of the Environment - and the government's national CEPA focal point, and the Directorate of Environmental Education (from the same Ministry), are announcing a partnership they have established with Ramsar Sites to establish what are known as "Green Rooms".

The nationwide "Green Room" project is coordinated by the Directorate of Environmental Education. It is conceived as a physical room to be devoted to the development of environmental education activities.

In return for the support offered by the Ministry, the organization that has a Green Room has to have a full time specialist on environmental education dedicated to organizing and developing related activities and to providing information to users.

One of the tools used to equip the Green Rooms is to make available reference publications, and more than 40 books on environmental subjects are provided when the Green Rooms are set up. However, the project is also designed to promote other educational activities: exhibitions, plays, movies, seminars and other events. 111 Green Rooms already exist in the country, but an important step forward is that they will now be installed at important wetland areas.

The administrative authority is preparing a publication to add to the pile which will contain information about the Ramsar Convention, Brazilian Ramsar sites, values and functions of wetlands and cultural heritage of wetlands. Part of the information to be used will be translated into Portuguese from the valuable Ramsar outreach material.

Further information from: Maria Carolina Hazin, Bióloga, MSc, Técnica Especializada, Ministério do Meio Ambiente, Diretoria do Programa Nacional de Áreas Protegidas, Esplanada dos Ministerios, Bl.B, 7o. andar, sl. 714, Brasília - DF - Brazil 70.068-900; phone: +55 61 317-1199/224-1696; fax: +55 61 317-1174; maria-carolina.hazin@mma.gov.br

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Sandra Hails, CEPA Programme Officer
Ramsar Convention Secretariat
Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 999 0176; Fax: +41 22 999 0169
E-mail: hails@ramsar.org
Web Site: http://ramsar.org
CEPA mini-Web site: http://ramsar.org/outreach_index.htm

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