CHENNAI: On August 30, 2021, the UN General Assembly adopted World Wetlands Day (February 2), and 2022 will be the first for it to be acknowledged as a UN International day. Celebrating this occasion and bringing awareness of the wetlands to people, Salem Ornithological Foundation is taking all month to honour the wetlands and conduct various programmes to engage citizens of the city. “There are several days people celebrate just for the sake of it. We want to have results and a real impact on the ground. That, we believe, can only happen through continuous engagement and a month-long programme,” explains Ganeshwar, the founder.
Activities galore
There are four main activities listed. In Wetland Explorers, members of the foundation will bring the wetlands to school and college students. “We are constantly engaging with schools. But everything is not just PPTs, there are games and activities as well that teach them concepts, for instance, the life cycle of a bird. Rather than make it all theoretical, children will play the life of the bird and be able to relate better to the struggles of the migratory creatures.
This also involves origami, clay-modelling and more,” he shares. The goal is to involve as many schools as possible. The next activity, E-birding From Wetlands will teach students and adults how to not only birdwatch but also identify and document them and upload their finds on the global citizen science platform. Then, there will also be four webinars and presentations — the first one about The Great Backyard Birdcount — and interactive play-based awareness programmes for schoolchildren.
Engaging students
The recognition from the UN reflects on the diminishing nature of the wetlands, says Ganeshwar. Unfortunately, he has seen a major disconnect between the people in urban and semi-urban areas and nature. “We know how people in the villages have great reverence for wetlands. In some wetlands, when it is raining and the water overflows, residents take their children to show them these areas.
They do not see wetlands as separate entities but as a part of their lives. When it comes to semi-urban and urban areas, people need to be more aware of what is around them,” he rues. He caught a slice of this when he realised that several students of class 9 in a school had no knowledge of lakes other than the fact that they were blue.
There is still hope for change. “We have seen incredible results working with children. Students of a school in Salem used to raid nests and shoot catapults at the birds. After our engagement, the same set of students is now identifying birds, noting their behaviour and uploading it on citizen science platforms. There has been a tremendous attitude shift,” Ganeshwar says. The foundation has been indulging in outreach and education programmes since 2017 and has reached out to more than 10,000 teachers and students. Whether or not the children end up in the field of environment, the activities are more targeted towards building an environmentally conscious mindset that stays with them as adults.
Furthermore, the foundation has also surveyed more than 300 wetlands in Salem and is currently doing the analysis for the same. The detailed report can be expected on World Water Day in March, along with the feedback from all the participants. This will give a snapshot of how people see the wetlands and if their attitude to them has changed, he signs off.