Kakadu National Park celebrates World Wetlands Day

Photo: Lyndon Anelzark.

On Saturday Parks Australia hosted World Wetlands Day at Bowali Visitor Centre in Kakadu.
Information booths were held by eriss, CDU and the National Environmental Science Program, along with talks by Park Rangers including an Air Boat display and crocwise presentations.
Students from Jabiru Area School – Jabiru hosted a Park Ranger talk on Ramsar Wetlands, held a Ramsar ‘paint a poster’ competition, and participated in games, while there was lots of interest in the wetlands quiz with ten Yellow Water Boat Cruise tickets awarded courtesy of Kakadu Tourism.
A free barbecue rounded out the day with key messages that every day is Wetlands Day in Kakadu!
World Wetlands Day is celebrated every year to raise global awareness about the value of wetlands for humanity and the planet.
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was adopted in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, and World Wetlands Day was celebrated for the first time in 1997.
The list of Wetlands of International Importance includes 2’231 Ramsar sites around the world covering over 2.1 million square kilometres.
Australia has 65 listed wetlands with Kakadu National Park having almost 7000 km2 of Ramsar listed wetlands, that’s almost a third of Kakadu!