Events

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=56 BGCOLOR="#666633" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="00fc8c83.jpg"> <div> Coming Events<FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B> </B></FONT></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=160 BGCOLOR="#666633" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=424 BGCOLOR="#CC9966" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="earthhour"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.planetfriendly.net/calendar/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.planetfriendly.net/calendar/"><U><B>For Up to date events </B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.planetfriendly.net/calendar/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.planetfriendly.net/calendar/"><U><B>check </B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.planetfriendly.net/calendar/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.planetfriendly.net/calendar/"><U>The People- & Planet-Friendly Calendar</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>World Wetlands Day</B><B> <A NAME="day_7"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B></div> <div> <B>February 2, </B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="0732fa00.jpg" border=0 width="303" height="160" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <I>This poster, from the Feb. 2, 2004 celebration, was distributed free of charge all over the world, including municipal offices in the Haliburton Highlands and Wilberforce Elementary School.</I></div> <bR> <div> <B>What is World Wetlands Day?</B></div> <div> <B>February 2 each year is World Wetlands Day.</B> It marks the date of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands on February 2, 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 2003, the Convention’s Web site has posted reports from more than 80 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. To find out more about World Wetlands Day, go here: <A HREF="http://www.ramsar.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ramsar.org"><U>http://www.ramsar.org</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <B>What can you do?</B></div> <div> <B>We've got plenty of ideas!</B></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c811111100.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">"Adopt" the wetland nearest your home or school and clean up any litter or manmade debris lying around.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c811111100.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Have a winter picnic or dinner party in your wetland! Make it elegant! Remember to bring home any garbage.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c811111100.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Go for a hike or a snowshoe through a wetland. Be careful to stay on dry ground if you're not familiar with the wetland and unsure about the ice thickness.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c811111100.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Start a year-round inventory of "your" wetland. What animals or birds live there in winter? In spring, summer and fall? Take photos of the wetland during each season and then you'll be able to see how the wetland changes as time goes by.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c811111100.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Let your wetland inspire you -- wetlands make beautiful subjects for paintings and photographs.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c811111100.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Educate yourself and your children about the importance of wetlands. There are plenty of educational websites on the internet and some great TV shows, too. Check out the fun quizzes on Frog Watch <A HREF="http://www.naturewatch.ca/english/frogwatch/on/intro.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.naturewatch.ca/english/frogwa"><U>http://www.naturewatch.ca/english/frogwatch/on/intro.html</U></A> or watch <I>The Nature Nut </I>with John Acorn on television (as well as his new book, <I>Bugs of Ontario  </I><A HREF="http://www.iansheldon.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.iansheldon.com"><U>www.iansheldon.com</U></A><I>)</I>. Both kids and adults love the tongue-in-cheek approach Acorn takes. Speaking of books, here's a fun one called Blackflies to Blueberries that explains a lot about wetlands for young children. <A HREF="http://www.fes.uwaterloo.ca/research/wetlands/Publications.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.fes.uwaterloo.ca/research/wet"><U>http://www.fes.uwaterloo.ca/research/wetlands/Publications.html</U></A>  Ducks Unlimited also has a free educational resources for students and teachers.<A HREF="http://www.ducks.ca" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ducks.ca"><U> http://www.ducks.ca</U></A></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c811111100.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Speak out about about protecting wetlands, especially wetlands in the Haliburton Highlands. Let your elected representatives hear that you value wetlands.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c811111100.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Join a wetlands-friendly organization like Environment Haliburton or Ducks Unlimited <A HREF="http://www.ducks.ca/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ducks.ca/"><U>http://www.ducks.ca</U></A> or the Haliburton Highlands Field Naturalists <A HREF="http://www.haliburtonecho.on.ca/sgthings.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.haliburtonecho.on.ca/sgthings"><U>http://www.haliburtonecho.on.ca/sgthings.html</U></A>.</div> <bR> <div> <B>What is Ramsar?</B></div> <div> <B>The Convention on Wetlands</B>, signed in <B>Ramsar</B>, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.Commonly, the Convention on Wetlands has become known as Ramsar, because of where the treaty was signed.</div> <div> This is Ramsar's mission statement:  "The Convention's mission is the conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local, regional and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world" (Ramsar COP8, 2002).</div> <div>  There are presently 138 Contracting Parties to the Convention, with 1328 wetland sites, totaling 111.9 million hectares, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. Including many in Canada. </div> <div> To scan the Ramsar Database of Wetlands of International Importance, go here: <A HREF="http://www.wetlands.org/RSDB/default.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.wetlands.org/RSDB/default.htm"><U>http://www.wetlands.org/RSDB/default.htm</U></A></div> <div> An example not too far away from the Haliburton Highlands is Matchedash Bay,  located 240 km north of Toronto at the interface between the St. Lawrence Lowlands and the Canadian Shield. <A HREF="http://www.bsc-eoc.org/iba/site.jsp?siteID=ON035" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.bsc-eoc.org/iba/site.jsp?site"><U>http://www.bsc-eoc.org/iba/site.jsp?siteID=ON035</U></A> Two other famous Canadian wetlands include Polar Bear Provincial Park in Ontario and Oak Hammock Marsh in Manitoba, home to the Canadian headquarters for Ducks Unlimited (<A HREF="http://www.ducks.ca" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ducks.ca"><U>http://www.ducks.ca</U></A>).</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>