19 December 2012: The Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Convention) has reported on a Ramsar Small Grants Fund (SGF) project that aimed to disseminate Ramsar Convention messages among local communities and to promote wetland wise use in the South West Coast of Bangladesh.

According to the Ramsar Secretariat, the project was initiated in 2009, funded through a voluntary contribution by Japan. It was carried out by the public interest organization Coastal Development Partnership (CDP) with a focus on the Sundarbans Reserved Forest Ramsar Site. The project involved working with decision makers and representatives from local NGOs, communities, businesses and the fishing industry to raise awareness of the value of the wetlands and advocate for their wise use. The Sundarbans is the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world.

The Ramsar Secretariat outlines some of the project’s results, including: developing translating and adapting tools to facilitate their use by the local community; adapting policy documents for field staff, which were then used as part of a wetland management training; organizing an essay writing competition on wetland conservation, community rallies and cultural programmes on World Wetlands Day; producing wetland conservation related songs, informational booklets, posters and stickers; creating a video on the value of the Sundarbans; developing an advocacy report on Communicating Wetland Issues in Bangladesh, for dissemination among local parliamentarians; and launching the Wetland Advocacy and Resource Centre website (WARC). [Ramsar Press Release]