Celebrate World Wetlands Day, 2nd Feb, at Kaikondrahalli

The Kaikondrahalli Lake Monitoring Committee (MAPSAS), along with United Way of Bengaluru and BBMP, is celebrating World Wetlands Day on 2nd February, at Kaikondrahalli Lake.

Every year, this day marks the signing of the Ramsar Convention, an “intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources”, in 1971 at Ramsar, Iran.  

What is a wetland? A wetland is an area that holds water either permanently or seasonally. The Convention uses a broad definition of the types of wetlands covered in its mission, including lakes and rivers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands and peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, near-shore marine areas, mangroves and coral reefs, and human-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs, and salt pans.

For India, the Convention on Wetlands came into force on Feb 1, 1982. Currently 26 sites in India (with a surface area of 689,131 hectares) are designated as Wetlands of International Importance, with 5 located in the south
– Kolleru Lake, Andhra Pradesh
– Ashtamudi Wetland, Sasthamkotta Lake, Vembanad-Kol Wetland, Kerala
– Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu.
(Source: The Annotated Ramsar List, Sep 2012)

2014 is the UN International Year of Family Farming – so the Ramsar Convention has chosen “Wetlands & Agriculture” as the World Wetlands Day theme for 2014. This comic strip suggests the way forward when wetlands come under threat.

Free download, courtesy: www.ramsar.org

If you would like to know more about wetlands, please visit the Ramsar Convention website here.

In Bangalore, wetlands occupy about 5% of the city’s area. (Source: Conservation And Management Of Wetland Ecosystems In Karnataka, IISc paper). To know more, do join the Kaikondrahalli Lake Team on World Wetlands Day, for what promises to be a fulfilling Sunday morning.   

Place: Kaikondrahalli Lake, Sarjapur Road
Date: Sunday, 2nd Feb 2014
Time: 8:00 am – Treasure hunt for adults and children (Gate opposite Fire Station)
8:15am – Storytelling and puppet-making workshop for younger children (Amphitheater)
There is no entry fee to participate. Please carry a cap and your own drinking water.
(More info on the poster below.)

At the end of the events there will be a short community meeting to discuss how each of us can help preserve urban wetlands through individual and community-based efforts.  Light snacks will be served. To facilitate proper planning, and arrangements for snacks, please confirm your attendance by emailing Vanessa Correa <vanessa.correa@uwbengaluru.org>.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Similar Story

Civic amenities and urban growth: Lessons from a design jam on Bengaluru BBMP Bye-laws

Access to civic amenities like parks is skewed even when they exist as per BBMP bye-laws, finds a representative study of three Bengaluru wards.

In the OpenCity Bengaluru Design Jam on BBMP, our team analysed and debated the bylaws and zoning rules governing civic amenities, parks and open spaces in the city. As a diverse group of spatial thinkers and design creatives, we sought to understand what liveability meant for citizens navigating the urban landscape, and how building and zoning laws address our needs and the city’s densifying future. Urbanisation is transforming cities worldwide, significantly impacting the quality of life both socio-economically and environmentally. In democratic societies, livability crises affect and are affected by the different levels of urban growth and how cities are…

Similar Story

Why all Bengaluru lakes need a biodiversity survey: Lessons from Dorekere

The Dorekere survey highlighted the importance of documenting the biodiversity of lakes and the need to involve the community in such an activity.

A lake is not just a body of water, it is an ecosystem. Action Aid Association India organised a survey to document the biodiversity of Dorekere, a lake in South Bengaluru. The biodiversity survey was funded by the Australian Consulate in Chennai. It not only documented several species but highlighted the importance of such an activity in understanding whether Bengaluru lakes are being developed in an ecologically sound manner. Dorekere is a 28-acre lake in the Uttarahalli suburb of South Bengaluru. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) currently manages the lake. Earlier, it came under the purview of the Karnataka…