World Wetlands Day celebration around Keibul Lamjao
- 2nd February 2023 -

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World Wetlands Day celebration around Keibul Lamjao

World Wetlands Day Celebration
Date: 2nd February 2023
Theme: “It’s time for wetland restoration”
Organised by: Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun and
Office of the Deputy Conservator of Forests (Park & Sanctuary),
Manipur Forest Department

Wetlands are critically important ecosystems that contribute to biodiversity, climate mitigation and adaptation, freshwater availability, world economies and more. However, nearly 90 percent of the world's wetlands have been degraded since the 1700s and we are losing wetlands three times faster than forests.

This called for inclusive actions across the globe on its preservation and conservation and awakened several environmentalists and experts around the world and adopted the Convention on Wetlands in the Iranian city of Ramsar (popularly known as Ramsar Convention) on 2nd February 1971.

At present around 2400 wetlands on the globe have been recognized as Ramsar Sites (Wetlands of International Importance) under this Convention and our Loktak Lake is one of them. Since the year 1971, World Wetlands Day is being observed every year on 2nd February to raise global awareness about the vital role of wetlands for people and the environment, and to encourage people to take action in conserving the wetlands.

And, this year it is being celebrated across the globe under the theme “It’s time for wetland restoration”.

The Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, and the Office of the Deputy Conservator of Forests (Park & Sanctuary), Manipur Forest Department joined this year’s global celebration of World Wetlands Day by organizing awareness talks and on-spot quiz competitions for school children around the Keibul Lamjao National Park, Bishnupur District on 2nd February 2023.

It was organized with an aim to raise public awareness, especially among the school children on the importance of wetlands including their ecosystem services, various threats, and conservation issues around wetlands across the globe in general, and wetlands of Manipur in particular.

Moreover, the raising concerns over conserving the rapidly vanishing Manipur’s wetlands and associated wildlife such as Sangai (Rucervus eldii eldii) were also highlighted and different ways to conserve them were discussed. And, the winners of the on-spot quiz competitions were felicitated with different prizes.

The event witnessed enthusiastic participation by over 150 students from three different schools in Kumbi including the Kumbi Sandhong Upper Primary School, New Model Public School, and Sambanlei Sekpil School.

Akoijam Santikumar Singh
Project Fellow
Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun

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