World Wetlands Day 2001: Australia

WWD events in northern Australia

Hi Dwight, Just a quick note to let you know we'll be promoting World Wetlands Day through local media, and hosting a World Wetlands Day morning tea at the ERISS laboratories in Jabiru. This modest contribution to WWD festivities will be attended by our research staff and the 'Kakadu in the Wet' tour group, who are currently touring Kakadu National Park in the company of an expert field naturalist.

This has become an annual event for the 'Kakadu in the Wet' tour group, which includes people from all walks of life (doctors, lawyers, teachers, retirees, etc) who share a keen interest in environmental issues. It is an opportunity for them to learn about tropical wetlands, and to talk to researchers involved in the Wetland Ecology and Conservation, and Environmental Impact of Mining programs at ERISS.

We're armed with plenty of Ramsar fact sheets and stickers from the Ramsar Bureau, so it should be great fun. As Kakadu is a World Heritage-listed area and a Ramsar site, it is a great location for WWD celebrations, and we are currently in the middle of the wet season here - the perfect time to promote the theme 'Wetland World - A world to discover!'

Over the next few months we also plan to host public seminars on the 2001 theme, bringing in charismatic naturalists, ecologists and other researchers to talk about various aspects of tropical wetlands. These will be held in Darwin, northern Australia, and hosted by the National Centre for Tropical Wetland Research, in collaboration with other local agencies.

Cheers,

Abbie

Abbie Spiers
Wetland Ecology and Conservation
Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist (eriss)
Locked Bag 2, Jabiru, NT 0886 AUSTRALIA
abbies@eriss.erin.gov.au
tel (08) 89 799793 fax (08) 89 792149 (international callers replace 08 with 618) **********************************************************************