World Wetlands Day marks the date of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands, called the Ramsar Convention on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. WWD was celebrated for the first time in 1997 and made an encouraging beginning. Each year, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and groups of citizens at all levels of the community have taken advantage of the opportunity to undertake actions aimed at raising public awareness of wetland values and benefits in general and the Ramsar Convention in particular. From 1997 to 2007, the Convention’s Web site has posted reports from more than 95 countries of WWD activities of all sizes and shapes, from lectures and seminars, nature walks, children’s art contests, sampan races, and community clean-up days, to radio and television interviews and letters to newspapers, to the launch of new wetland policies, new Ramsar sites, and new programmes at the national level. On February 2010 World Wetlands day held in Korea under the Ramsar support.

The 2012 World Wetlands Day theme is “Wetlands and Tourism” and BirdLife Partners in the Caribbean are ready to be part of the experience.

Bahamas

The Bahamas National Trust - BirdLife in the Bahamas - is showcasing the Harrold and Wilson Ponds National Park (HWNP) to tourists in celebration of these very important ecosystems. The tourists from a cruise ship in port will be taken to this Important Bird Area for a guided tour by Bahamas National Trust (BNT) staff and then visit the Ardastra Gardens and Zoo for the Flamingo show.

Dominican Republic

Grupo Jaragua - BirdLife in Dominican Republic - has also organized fun filled-activities to celebrate WWD, in this case mainly directed at youth (ages 12-18) from the local communities of Oviedo and El Cajuil. The youth will have the opportunity to visit laguna de Oviedo in Jaragua National Park IBA, learn about mangroves and about the importance of brackish wetland ecosystems for people and biodiversity. They will also have a chance to learn about Grupo Jaragua Project – The Mangroves of Laguna de Oviedo and take a first-hand look at one of the existing mangrove plots from this project. After the field trip, participants will be “treated” with two presentations on “Wetlands and Ramsar sites” and “Mangroves and their ecotourism value”. Another programmed WWD activity is a poster exposition, opened to the public at a college in the country capital. The expo will be a joint activity between Grupo Jaragua and a college student association.