> Children from the kindergarten paraded through the streets of S. Teotónio to raise awareness for the conservation of temporary ponds
The World Wetlands Day is celebrated on February the 2nd. This anniversary evokes the creation of the Ramsar Convention, or the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, done at Ramsar in Iran in 1971. It refers to the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. It aim is to promote international cooperation and encourage national actions to promote rational and sustainable management of wetlands.
To celebrate this day, in 2016, children of the kindergarten from S. Teotónio, Odemira county, made some posters to increase awareness of the importance of conservation of Mediterranean Temporary Ponds. These posters were distributed by them in the local community in the form of a parade. This activity was integrated in the awareness actions of the LIFE Charcos project.
This demonstration of support to the conservation of temporary ponds was made by children from 3 to 6 years old. The posters created by them were delivered, one by one, to various local business establishments with the request to be stick in the windows. Children showed enthusiasm and felt important to disseminate the temporary ponds, an habitat present in this region but unknown to many.
Throughout the parade, the three classes of kindergarten shouted "Save the Ponds" in order to sensitize the passersby as various brochures of the project were distributed to them. Thus the children managed to awake some curiosity for this topic among customers of pharmacies, butchers, grocery stores, cafes, or in the post office of this village in the Alentejo Coast. On the return journey, several shop windows were already exposing the posters designed by these little "demonstrators".
Other schools in the region joined the celebration of this anniversary promoting the debate among students on “Wetlands for our future - Sustainable Livelihoods" as it was the theme suggested by the secretariat of the Ramsar Convention this year.
The awakening of consciousness for the preservation of wetlands in general and the temporary ponds in particular is the goal of the commemoration of this symbolic date. Temporary ponds are natural wetlands with stagnant and temporary freshwater. Like all other wetlands, temporary ponds produce goods and services for human well-being.
They play an important role in maintaining ecosystems by supporting ecological interconnection with other freshwater habitats. They provide shelter, food and breeding ground for many animals considered rare and endangered at European level or globally. The diversity of life in a temporary pond is very high and generally higher than the one that can be found in other water environments such as permanent ponds, streams, rivers or watercourses.
Other functions of the temporary ponds are: flood control, depending on the geological context can contribute to groundwater recharge and purification; represent important surface freshwater reserves for wildlife, and on a global level have an active role in carbon sequestration. Moreover, they add scenic and cultural value to the Southwest Alentejo and Vicentina Coast by being a landscape differentiator and it can enhance nature tourism which in turn can contribute to sustainable local development. They are also a rich source of scientific knowledge.
However, like the disappearance of most wetlands (since 1900, over 64% of wetlands have disappeared throughout the world), also the temporary ponds are increasingly threatened due to their ecological fragility and lack of its natural value (its estimated that about half of the existing temporary ponds in the Alentejo coast disappeared in the last two decades).
Under LIFE Charcos Project, the trend of disappearance or degradation is meant to be fought not only with concrete conservation actions or demonstration of how to do it but also through environmental education in schools. Educate children and youth about wetlands and involve them in environmental protection will provide them with awareness, knowledge and skills they need to become environmentally literate, responsible and creative citizens. Through various activities, specially adapted, students gain knowledge and values necessary to rethink and change current patterns of behavior and gain a good understanding of the interrelationships between welfare and conservation of ecosystems.
