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Wetland Awareness Campaign

place Liberia

This project is tailored towards creating awareness about the treats Liberia’s wetland if face with and providing preventative measures .

This project is tailored towards creating awareness about the treats Liberia’s wetland if face with and providing preventative measures toward the conservation and protection of these wetland/areas. This campaign will benefit over 10 wetland communities in Montserrado County through a massive outreach on to targeted affected communities, school campuses and media institutions.

Overview

Information on this page is provided by the innovator and has not been evaluated by HundrED.

Web presence

2019

Established

-

Children

1

Countries
Updated
April 2019
"Wetlands are vital for human survival"

About the innovation

Wetland Awareness Campaign

This Project is designed:

• To increase information about the treats to wetlands in Liberia (eg. discarded waste, over hunting and fishing etc)

• To sensitize the communities about importance of wetland to the environment.

• Increase support towards the RAMSAR Convention

• Increase advocacy at community level about wetland conservation and protection

• Increase media coverage on environmental issues

• To ensure the conservation of wetlands and their functions

• Sensitize the public about their role in preserving wetland

The Convention on Wetlands, called the RAMSAR Convention, is the intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. According to the RAMSAR Convention of which Liberia is a signatory, "Wetlands are vital for human survival. They are among the world's most productive environments; cradles of biological diversity that provide the water and productivity upon which countless species of plants and animals depend for survival. The Convention uses a broad definition of wetlands. This includes all lakes and rivers, underground aquifers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands, peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, mangroves and swamps. Wetland ecosystems are often undervalued as few people realize the range of products derived from freshwater habitats like wetlands: food such as fish, rice and cranberries; medicinal plants; peat for fuel and gardens; poles for building materials; and grasses and reeds for making mats and baskets and thatching houses.

However, there is still a lot of work to be done to increase public awareness on the protection and conservation of wetland, particularly in underdeveloped countries (Liberia). The threat to wetlands in Liberia is posed mainly by discarded waste, over hunting and fishing as well as the harvesting of wood fuel particularly in coastal mangroves. Such waste, including but not limited to plastic bags, medical waste, human feces and dirty or used fuel, threatens marine species in the various wetlands. Many people don't pay much attention to environmental problems because they don't understand how the problem would affect the environment or lifestyle. Some examples of wetlands and mangrove swamps that are under threat of abuse in Montserrado County include: Peace Island, SKD Boulevard, King Grey and New Hope, Westpoint, Fiamah, Lakpazee, Crown Hill, Sinkor, Clara Town, VaiTwon, Gardnersville, Congo Town, and Paynesville. “Wetlands are indispensable for the countless benefits or 'ecosystem services' that they provide humanity, ranging from freshwater supply, food and building materials, and biodiversity, to flood control, groundwater recharge, and climate change mitigation."


Implementation steps

ROAD TO WETLAND AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

Involving stakeholders at various levels of works remain the central point of success. It is from the communities that information on ongoing implementation or would be implementation stories are gather. As such, their involvement from the very beginning through the end is paramount in determining any success. Your mobilization team should sensitize students and the communities in targeted project areas, reach and hold meetings with community leaders, public and private schools’ students. We have designed three approaches towards achieving the objectives of this campaign, these include:

Local Outreach

Your mobilization team will reach out to local/targeted communities’ leaders and communities’ dwellers to sanitized them on the importance of protecting and conserving wetland and other environmental treats.

Public Awareness

This aspect of the campaign will focus on reaching over 50 schools in the project location about the message of the campaign and will also reach targeted wetland communities in the project location. The message about the campaign will reach students, teachers, and other citizens/residents of targeted areas. This will help them foster a sense of responsibility and proactive citizenship so that they can make the right choices that helps the environment rather than harm it.

The Media

You should make maximum use of print, broadcast and internet media networks as a great way to increase education and awareness on wetland conservation. By working with the media, they will help in spreading the message on a wider scale. The campaign messages will also be spread by holding radio and television talk shows. You should work and with support from the Environmental Protection Agency (in your country) in setting up online database that can be used as information center. This Information center will be use as a tools to educate both the public and journalist about environmental concerns. Many media outlets may use this to increase their coverage of environmental issues.


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