The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

World Wetlands Day 2008 -- Canada

University of Windsor

REPORT: Canada: Paresh Pandya (Dr.)/ ParishPandya@yahoo.com/ (519) 972-7876 and (519) 817-2999; Faculty of Education, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4, and Hindu Mandir Windsor, 315 Cabana Road East, Windsor ON N9G 1A1 Canada.

We have promoted the World Wetlands Day this year at University of Windsor, Windsor Ontario, Canada, with the theme of Healthy Wetlands, Healthy People, We have been celebrating WWD for the University student teachers, and community people. We have arranged the mass awareness program. The memorandum is given to Ontario and Federal government. We have made face to face contact to opinion making people. The sticker, poster and leaflet distribution to all. We have celebrated Wetlands week from January 31 to February 1-7, 2008 at the University of Windsor and The Hindu Mandir Windsor.

Canada is among the 157 contracting parties to the Ramsar conservation on wetlands, an intergovernmental treaty adopted on February 2, 1971. The convention on wetlands came into force for Canada on 15 May 1981. Canada presently has 37 sites designated as wetlands of international importance, with a surface area of 13,066,675 hectares. Canada is having 'National Wetland Policy of Canada' for indirect protection of wetlands. We have aware the Canada's Federal Government policy on wetland conservation to all student teachers and community people, so people can understand this policy betters way. Therefore we have arranged lecture and face to face program for the people.

World wetlands day, celebrated annually around the world, may not break routine for Canadians, but it directly link to a subject that is more than a drop in the bucket of Canadian consciousness, our water resources. One of the national poll of Canadians conducted and found that 43 % of people surveyed identified water resources, such as wetlands, lakes and rivers, as the most important focus for environmental protection, but we have ignore 57% of Canadian who don't have real knowledge of wetlands and it's important, so we have focus on face to face program and mass awareness movement. For the Mass awareness movement, we have distributed materials and talk to the people that, wetland habitats are capable of removing over 90% of common nutrient pollutants like nitrogen and phosphorous and over 70% of the sediment that is carried in waterways. This is natural filtering process works so well that constructed wetlands are being used in Canada to clean wastewater like sewage and storm water, this are the things we could put in the mind of people.

We have conveyed the message about one third of Canada's species at risk, are found in wetland ecosystems. Even though, historical data indicate that as much as 70% of wetlands in Canada's populated area have disappeared so that to empower wetland protection, we need to be able to equate wetland loss by mass movement and talking to the students, opinion making class, media, teacher and politician too. On the part of world wetlands day celebration we have arranged exhibition, drawing competition, seminar, workshop, lecture, presentation for all the Canadian.

We have contacted university departments, faculties, Hindu Mandir-Windsor, Paresh Pandya (Ph.D.), Clinton Beckford (Ph. D.) WWD CELEBRATION COMMITTEE University of Windsor, the Faculty of Education, Hindu Mandir Windsor, WINDSOR, ONTARIO, CANADA

For further information about World Wetlands Day or the Convention on Wetlands, please contact the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, e-mail ). Posted 26 March 2008, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.