PAGADIAN CITY, Feb 8. (PIA) - - In celebration of the World Wetlands Day (WWD), the Protected Areas Wildlife and Coastal Zone Management Services (PAWCZMS) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has lined up several activities to mark the occasion and to drum up public awareness.
Roservirico Tan, chief of DENR-IX’s Information Division said “although the WWD is being celebrated every second of February, the environment office has prepared series of activities from Jan. 14 to Feb. 25.”
Tan added that the almost two-month long celebration is geared to raise people’s awareness of the interdependence between water and wetlands.
He said awareness activities include Information, Education Communication (IEC) campaign in selected school and communities among others.
To highlight ways to ensure the equitable sharing of water among the different stakeholder groups, DENR has involved local officials & focal persons of Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur in Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signing and orientation on the Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) program implementation .
“We have been hopping around through radio plugs and guesting, press releases, social mobilization to increase people’s awareness and understanding that without the wetlands there will be no water,” Tan stressed.
Other activities include Sagun Dive Tour, Participatory Coastal Resource Assessment (PCRA) and ICM planning.
This year’s WWD theme is “Wetlands and Water Management.”
Wetlands are
areas covered with water either natural or artificial, permanent or temporary,
static or flowing water, fresh/brackish/saline water, including marine areas
where water level at low tide does not exceed six (6) meters. Coral reef, swamp
forest, non-forested swamp, sea grass bed, rice paddies, coastal marsh, estuary,
lake, river, and aquaculture are types of wetlands in Asia.
Wetland ecosystem supports the life cycle of important plants and animals and serves as windbreak, shoreline stabilization and storm protection, ground replenishment, among other functions. (FPG/JPA/PIA9)
