World Wetlands Day to be celebrated on Tuesday

A group of waterbirds at the Kol Wetland, Thrissur. Many waterbirds are fighting a batlle for survival as they are hunted down by locals for meat. Photo: K.K. Mustafah

The World Wetlands Day will be celebrated in Alappuzha, home to the country’s second largest wetland system, the Vembanad Lake, on Tuesday.

The day, which marks the signing of the Convention of Wetlands at Ramsar, has a number of programmes lined up to observe the day.

Notable among these will be the ‘Lake Salute’ by the Vembanad Lake Protection forums. Members of 10 such organisations will assemble at Shrayithode near Muhamma at 4 p.m. to salute the lake.

Muhamma panchayat president C.K. Bhaskaran will inaugurate the programme, while noted environmentalist K.V. Dayal will give the ‘Wetland’ message. F.G. Benno Pereira will deliver a talk on sustainable fishery management in the lake after which the participants will take an oath to protect the lake by all possible means. Lamps will also be floated on the lake, as a mark of respect to the Vembanad lake. Cultural programmes and a ‘wetland feast’ too will be part of the programme, organisers Latha Bhaskar and K. Krishnakumar of the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) informed.

ATREE is also organising a Wetland Festival, a one-day awareness programme on wetlands, at the Kalyani Auditorium at Alappuzha from 10 a.m. the same day. Mr. Dayal will inaugurate the programme, which will be followed by a documentary screening, a wetland quiz, project presentations and cultural programmes.