Lakes, Ponds and Wetlands

Northeast Centre for Environmental Education and Research (NECEER), Imphal is going to organise a Worldwide Save Loktak Lake Campaign at 20 cities in 3 continents  on 7th March 2010. The campaign is an attempt to create awareness about the threats and need for conserving this natural heritage of Manipur.

The Lost Lakes of Bangalore is a project to document Bengaluru’s many tanks and lakes which have vanished with urbanization and growth. As part of this project India Water Portal is organizing a contest for schools and colleges to document this aspect of Bengaluru's history.

VIJAYAWADA: School children will be with one another to list the number of animals and plants they can recognise in a competition being held by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Forest Department at Kaikaluru on Tuesday.

The Yamuna Biodiversity Park (YBP) invites all citizens to celebrate the World Wetlands Day on the 2nd of February. This date marks the signing of the ‘Convention on Wetlands’ in 1971 at Ramsar, Iran. The 2010 Wetlands Day theme is “Caring for Wetlands – an Answer to Climate Change”. The theme highlights the fact that wetlands, with their biodiversity, can help mitigate climate change.

Bhubaneswar: World Wetlands Day is observed on 2 February every year. It marks the date of signing of the convention on wetlands on 2nd February 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar. This day presents us with a welcome opportunity to join together in celebrating the benefits that we all receive from wetlands, as well as to raise the awareness of the local communities who derive their livelihood about the importance of these vital ecosystems for our common future. The Ramsar Bureau (Secretariat) took a decision to observe the World wetland day on 2nd February in 1997. Chilika Development Authority has been observing World Wetlands Day way back from 1997 i.e. from the first year of observation of WWD.

The WWD is observed by CDA in and around Chilika Lake with the active participation of local communities. For optimizing the objectives of the WWD celebration instead of observing it at Bhubaneswar it is invariably observed in and around Chilika by CDA .

Venue: Management Strategies at College of Technology, Udaipur

Contact: shiloo592003@yahoo.co.uk

Rajendra Singh of Tarun Bharat Sangh and Farhad Contractor of Sambhaav Trust, had

13th Birding Fair at Jaipur's Man Sagar on 2 – 3 Feb 2010 to be devoted to 'Rivers’ Restoration'

In Rajasthan Ki Rajat Boondein, Shri Anupam Mishra documents the myriad, well-organised ways in which the people of western Rajasthan have harvested and managed water over centuries, through work of the utmost dedication, painstaking detail and community-led action. These systems have survived the test of time, and are present in most villages and towns of the desert state even today.

This path-breaking work in the harsh water-scarce conditions of the desert, was completely managed by the local communities, and serves as a guide to the rest of us, in organising to face and tackle the water crisis, that we face across the world today.

Shri Anupam Mishra has worked in the field of environment and water conservation for many decades, and is currently with the Gandhi Peace Foundation New Delhi. His books on the work of people/society organising themselves, to harvest and manage water - Aaj Bhi Khare Hain Talaab and Rajasthan Ki Rajat Boondein, are considered landmark works in the field, and continue to inspire several individuals even today, to take up work on setting up and reviving such time-tested water harvesting systems.