The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

West Indian Teachers' Resource Book

Wondrous West Indian Wetlands: Teachers' Resource Book

Using the West Indian Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna arborea) as a flagship species, the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds has developed a 276-page Wondrous West Indian Wetlands Teachers' Resource Book to be used throughout the Caribbean. Working with many local partners across the Caribbean they have developed wetlands education workshops, targeted at teachers and educators in environmental NGOs as well as government agencies, that provide training and educational tools to raise awareness of and appreciation for the values of local wetlands.

The resource book, containing comprehensive background information and educational activities relating to the ecology and conservation of Caribbean wetlands, is distributed in conjunction with the workshops. During 2004 a total of 554 teachers attended one of 20 such training workshops held in seven countries across the Caribbean including Anguilla, The Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Society has noted that responses on evaluations, including a "before and after" wetland quiz, have shown that the workshops are highly effective in changing attitudes and perceptions about wetlands and that participants leave the workshops with the knowledge, skills, and tools they need to teach and inspire others. They identify several factors that have contributed to the success of the training project, including strong leadership, thousands of hours of donated work by many creative and committed individuals, successful fundraising, use of a flagship species, local empowerment, political involvement, and the regional nature of the project.

From the Resource Book: some of the learning objectives for Chapter 3

From the Resource Book: an activity sheet focused on learning about the components of a habitat

Companion materials to the resource book include a slide show, puppet show, poster, colouring book, conservation buttons, postcard, field trip notebook, and a duck identification card for hunters. The Society also promotes the development of Watchable Wildlife Ponds, accessible wetlands which are managed for interpretation to schoolchildren, local residents, and eco-tourists.

For more information on the Society's activities look here; for more information on the workshops and the resource book, please contact Lisa Sorensen directly by email lsoren@bu.edu.

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For further information about the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, please contact the Ramsar Convention Bureau, Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, e-mail ramsar@ramsar.org). Posted 18 July 2005, Sandra Hails, Ramsar.