Students and researchers turned budding environmentalists n Thursday as part of World Wetlands Day celebrations at K J Somaiya college, suggesting ways to turn Mumbai’s wetlands into eco-tourism spots.
As part of their environment festival Convergence, the Department of Environmental Science of K J Somaiya College of Science and Commerce had organised a technical paper presentation and poster making competition to celebrate World Wetlands Day, observed worldwide on February 2 every year.
The date marks the day when Ramsar Convention, an international treaty to protect wetlands all over the globe, came into existence in 1971. The theme for the competition was taken from the official theme for World Wetlands Day 2012, ‘Wetland and Tourism’.
Research papers on all types of wetlands such as lakes, creeks, beaches, rivers, mangroves, estuaries, marshes etc were presented, stressing on the threats faced by these ecosystems such as reclamation due to development, pollution due to dumping of garbage and release of effluents.
“The planet has lost 35 per cent of its mangroves in the last 20 years and if the current rate of destruction continues, all the world’s mangroves will disappear in 50 years,” said student Sarita Joshi from B N Bandodkar College of Science, Thane.
Schools like Billabong High School, Thane drew attention to issues affecting coral reef such as blast fishing where fisherman throw dynamite in water, which instantly destroys the entire coral belt and fishing using cyanide poisoning, which stuns the fish and makes it easy for them to be picked.
“Wetlands are important as they provide shoreline protection by preventing floods, absorb carbon dioxide, improve water quality by acting as a natural filter and house rich aquatic life, which help to maintain ecological balance,” said Class IX student Vishal Behra of Sanjivani International School, Kharghar.