Bhopal: Two departments of the Barkatullah University will celebrate World Wetland Day on February 2 to aware the students about importance of wetlands especially urban. Department of zoology and applied aquaculture along with department of environment and limnology will jointly organise a painting competition, interactive session and field visit to the Upper Lake for the students on February, 1, 2 and 4 respectively.
Every year the two departments celebrate this day to mark their contributions in conservation and preservation of the wetland as per the Ramsar Convention of 1971. The Convention on Wetlands, called the Ramsar Convention adopted in 1971 in Ramsar city of Iran, is the intergovernmental treaty between 169 parties that provides the framework for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. Most important wetland declared as Ramsar sites.
All the parties meet every third year to decide the future course of action. The last meeting of parties was held at Uruguay in 2015 as COP 12 and COP13 will take place at Dubai UAE this year. Till date, around 35 students of the varsity have enrolled themselves for the painting competition. The registration will end on Feb 1. The results of the competition will be declared on Feb 2, on the day an interactive session is also scheduled. The student will also make field visit to Upper Lake to get firsthand knowledge of the urban wetland.
Emphasising on the need to conserve the wetlands, Zoology department HoD, associate Prof Vipin Vyas told Free Press that they play vital role in maintaining water level of the area, it impacts micro-climate, provides space for development of different ecosystems. The departments thus will hold such kind of interactive awareness programmes for the student, he added.
BU research scholar Parul Gurjar said, “All these programmes especially field visits will help the students to know about the importance, utility and real situation of the wetlands. This will also motivate them in exploring new wetlands.”
