The Japanese visit under Food & Trees for Africa at Ekukhanyisweni primary in AlexandraWorld Wetlands Day 2010 will focus on wetlands biodiversity and climate change and the 2010 World Wetlands Day slogan is "Caring for Wetlands - An Answer to Climate Change".
At the end of 2009 a critical climate change meeting of the world's leaders took place in Copenhagen focusing attention on the need for an active response to this global threat. 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity and climate change are intertwined and there is much work to be done at global and national levels. This includes wetland species and ecosystems under continuing threat from unsustainable human practices, the likely impact of climate change on wetland ecosystems, and importantly, the role of wetlands in climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Food & Trees for Africa will be celebrating World Wetlands Day at Ekukhanyisweni Primary School in Alexandra at 14h00 on the 2nd February 2010.
The school was initially an informal structure built of asbestos sheets before the Provincial Government provided funds to build a modern school in 2006. the official opening of the new school was done by the then MEC of Housing now the Premier of Gauteng Ms. Nomvula Mokonyane on the 20th July 2007. The school has 1073 learners from grade one to grade seven who do not pay any school fees due to the high rate of unemployment (60%) in the area. This means crime rate is also very high.
A feeding scheme provides the only meal, some of these children receive daily. Despite these hardships and densely populated urban environment they are in, this school won an Ambassador of Global Warming Climate Change Campaign Provincial Award for three years in succession from 2003 to 2005.
The FTFA World Wetlands Day event will highlight the need for biodiversity and draw to importance of Wetlands, such as those damaged and much degraded wetlands of Alexandra, encouraging the learners and educators to look after this very valuable resource.
In every country and climate zone, from the polar regions to the tropics, wetlands provide the basis for human survival and development. Wetlands include inland rivers, lakes and peatswamps, coastal lagoons, estuaries and reefs and human-made wetlands such as rice-fields. People and wetlands are interdependent; wetlands provide food, water, control floods, stabilize shorelines, mitigate climate change and are home to a wide range of biodiversity.
Wetlands function as sponges, as buffers against storms, as sources of fresh water and food. Protecting and restoring mangroves, reefs, peatswamps, mountain lakes and floodplains should therefore get recognized as effective climate adaptation strategies. No other type of ecosystem is an important to millions of migratory birds, fish, amphibians, insects, plants and trees. The loss of these wetlands will however magnify the impacts of climate change and be disastrous for our safety and water security. protecting wetlands is of utmost importance if we want to maintain balance.
Despite their overwhelming values, wetlands are the most highly threatened ecosystems on the planet. Demand for their services is likely to intensify as human population increase and development accelerates.
The FTFA team and the representatives from the school will be joined by two special guests, Ms lisa Suzuki and Ms. Chika Saito who were members of a group of over 100 Japanese volunteers who came to South Africa in September 2009 on a tree planting and food gardening goodwill mission. During their trip, they visited Ekukhanyisweni Primary School for an afternoon of music and cultural exchange provided by Japanese band, Funkist, and many local acts.
The volunteers so enjoyed their time with the learners of the school that they went back to japan and collected clothes for the children. These they have sent back to South Africa with Ms. Chika Saito, who will hand them over to the school at the World Wetlands Day event on the 2nd February 2010.
At the end of 2009 a critical climate change meeting of the world's leaders took place in Copenhagen focusing attention on the need for an active response to this global threat. 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity and climate change are intertwined and there is much work to be done at global and national levels. This includes wetland species and ecosystems under continuing threat from unsustainable human practices, the likely impact of climate change on wetland ecosystems, and importantly, the role of wetlands in climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Food & Trees for Africa will be celebrating World Wetlands Day at Ekukhanyisweni Primary School in Alexandra at 14h00 on the 2nd February 2010.
The school was initially an informal structure built of asbestos sheets before the Provincial Government provided funds to build a modern school in 2006. the official opening of the new school was done by the then MEC of Housing now the Premier of Gauteng Ms. Nomvula Mokonyane on the 20th July 2007. The school has 1073 learners from grade one to grade seven who do not pay any school fees due to the high rate of unemployment (60%) in the area. This means crime rate is also very high.
A feeding scheme provides the only meal, some of these children receive daily. Despite these hardships and densely populated urban environment they are in, this school won an Ambassador of Global Warming Climate Change Campaign Provincial Award for three years in succession from 2003 to 2005.
The FTFA World Wetlands Day event will highlight the need for biodiversity and draw to importance of Wetlands, such as those damaged and much degraded wetlands of Alexandra, encouraging the learners and educators to look after this very valuable resource.
In every country and climate zone, from the polar regions to the tropics, wetlands provide the basis for human survival and development. Wetlands include inland rivers, lakes and peatswamps, coastal lagoons, estuaries and reefs and human-made wetlands such as rice-fields. People and wetlands are interdependent; wetlands provide food, water, control floods, stabilize shorelines, mitigate climate change and are home to a wide range of biodiversity.
Wetlands function as sponges, as buffers against storms, as sources of fresh water and food. Protecting and restoring mangroves, reefs, peatswamps, mountain lakes and floodplains should therefore get recognized as effective climate adaptation strategies. No other type of ecosystem is an important to millions of migratory birds, fish, amphibians, insects, plants and trees. The loss of these wetlands will however magnify the impacts of climate change and be disastrous for our safety and water security. protecting wetlands is of utmost importance if we want to maintain balance.
Despite their overwhelming values, wetlands are the most highly threatened ecosystems on the planet. Demand for their services is likely to intensify as human population increase and development accelerates.
The FTFA team and the representatives from the school will be joined by two special guests, Ms lisa Suzuki and Ms. Chika Saito who were members of a group of over 100 Japanese volunteers who came to South Africa in September 2009 on a tree planting and food gardening goodwill mission. During their trip, they visited Ekukhanyisweni Primary School for an afternoon of music and cultural exchange provided by Japanese band, Funkist, and many local acts.
The volunteers so enjoyed their time with the learners of the school that they went back to japan and collected clothes for the children. These they have sent back to South Africa with Ms. Chika Saito, who will hand them over to the school at the World Wetlands Day event on the 2nd February 2010.
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