Feature
January
27
World Wetlands Day
by Paul Guidry
The South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center will sponsor Terrebonne Parish’s third annual participation in World Wetlands Day.
Celebrated annually on February 2, this is a special year for the Ramsar Convention. It is the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands in the Iranian city of Ramsar, located on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
World Wetlands Day was celebrated for the first time in 1997. Each year, government agencies, non-governmental organizations and citizens have taken advantage of the opportunity to undertake actions aimed at raising public awareness of wetland values and benefits in general.
The theme of this year’s World Wetlands Day is Forests for Water and Wetlands. The 2011 theme is particularly appropriate since the United Nations declared 2011 the International Year of Forests. The theme presented an ideal opportunity for the Ramsar Convention to focus on a particular type of forest - those that are often or always wet. This occasion also reminds us to look at the benefits of the wetlands and the many threats they face.
South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center will be hosting an educational event complete with hands-on activities and a tour of the Bayou Terrebonne Waterlife Museum in Downtown Houma for area students. The sixth grade students attending Southdown Elementary School and St. Francis de Sales Catholic School will attend this fun and educational event on February 2.
For more information:
Visit the World Wetlands Day website
at www.ramsar.org, the South Louisiana
Wetlands Discovery Center’s website at
www.slwdc.org or contact Paul Guidry at
pguidry@slwdc.org.
Organizations and businesses have partnered with the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center to provide activities and a memorable experience for the students. Groups including the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program, the Louisiana State University Agriculture Center, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Motivatit Seafoods, Inc., the LSU Wildlife Hospital of Louisiana, H.L. Bourgeois High School Physics class and Legators, Inc. have made the World Wetlands Day event possible.
“This is a great way for our community to celebrate the importance of our wetlands and to educate our students about the issues facing our unique wetlands,” says Paul Guidry, Executive Director, South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center.
