World Wetlands Day Celebration under Wangdue Forest Division

World Wetlands Day (WWD) is celebrated on 2 February each year. It marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar. This is an international date with a different theme and message on a relevant subject set each year by the Ramsar Secretariat. Likewise, Wangdue Forest Division together with the Watershed Management Division celebrated “World Wetlands Day” on disaster risk reduction at Gangtey-Phobji under Wangdue Dzongkhag exactly on 2^nd February 2017. On the day, the public of two Geogs (Gangtey and Phobji) had attended an event. Around 975 hectares of government wetland in Gangtey and Phobjikha Gewogs have been listed in the Ramsar Site list, which is a tool to promote wetland programs. The similarity is all Ramsar Sites in Bhutan are associated with Black-necked Cranes, a winter migratory crane. The main objective of the event is to formally launch the Gangtey-Phobjikha Ramsar Site and to raise awareness among locals on the importance of conserving wetlands.

View of Gangtey-Phobji Ramsar Site

The day commenced with the registration of the participants (officials, community members, home guests, and international guests) following the reception of Chief Guest, Mr. Sangay Dorji, Specialist of DoFPS and other guests into the conference hall. The main procession started with the traditional “marching ceremony” and keynote speech by the Chief Guest. In his opening address, the Chief Guest welcomed all the participants for taking their time to celebrate an important event. He stressed that; conservation of our wetland and management of water catchment area is a farsighted vision of our nation and that is why Bhutan joined as a member country into Ramsar convention. He also informed that people need to weigh pros and cons of conserving our wetlands before it is being degraded. Similarly, Mrs. Sonam Choden of Watershed Management Division made opening remarks on the history and evolution of Bhutanese Ramsar sites with the release of Dzongkha documentary on wetland ecosystem. To make the event more interesting, the community entertainment group also performed the ancient folk songs and dances, whereby many officials got an opportunity to dance with the indigenous group. After the lunch, the Chief Guest officially handed over the Khotokha and Gangtey-Phobji Ramsar certificate to the Wangdue Forest Division and successfully ended the event with an inauguration of Gangtey-Phobji Ramsar signage. 

Under the guidance and directives of the Chief of Forests, Wangdue Forest Division; the team Nobding, Phobjikha and Gogona unanimously stepped forward to prepare the venue for the celebration. Their team spirit and cooperation within the community is simply amazing and that eased us to manage the Chadi items from the nearby institutions and other individuals without any problem. The officials voluntarily worked late at night to materialize the stuffs, despite of the late-prickly cold weather condition. On behalf of the Chief and Division Management, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the officials for their professionalism, dynamism and enthusiasm which contributed enormously in enabling to celebrate “World Wetlands Day” into a spectacular and magical venue for more than 600 people who took part in the event. I as an organizer, I found the expertise and insights really valuable at all stages for the preparation. At the very outset the team Phobjikha and Gogona helped us judge exactly how to utilize our enormous venue with just the right amount of attractions that would perfectly suit the celebration.

Inauguration of Gangtey-Phobji Ramsar Signage

In the weeks leading up to the event, our officials were always on hand to advise us and to answer any concern and to come up with practical solutions to problems. On February 2^nd, 2017 (the day of the celebration) the Watershed Management Division impressed the audience with their efficiency and making our general public aware on the wetland subjects. After the event, our team worked very late into the night making sure that everything was cleared away and left as it was before. A lot of hard work went into making the "World Wetland Day" celebration go off so smoothly. I would like to thank all who made it happen. The Chief and ADF of the Wangdue Division and Dr. Pema Wangda and Sonam Choden of Watershed Division helped run the celebration for the day. Our hosts, Gogona FMU in charge, Beat Officer Phobjikha and Range Officer Nobding did an excellent job organizing and managing the event. A big thanks to all the field officials of Wangdue Forest Division. There are too many of you to name individually, but if it were not for you such an informative and valuable celebration would not have been possible. Thank you to the sponsors! Without your support, the celebration could not have been such a success.

By Tashi Dendup (Ramsar Focal Officer)
Web Administrator