Seminar held to mark World Wetlands Day

PESHAWAR: The students' Environment Society organised a seminar to mark the World Wetlands Day in collaboration with Islamic Relief Pakistan at the Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar, on Wednesday.

The main theme this year is about 'Wetlands and Climate Change' as approved by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. The purpose of the seminar was to create awareness amongst the students and encourage conservation measures for wetlands in Pakistan which need to be done on a priority basis to combat climate change impacts.

Dr Asif Khan Khattak, the Organiser of the Society, welcomed the guest speakers from different organisations including WWF, Islamic Relief and the Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar.

Dr Asif Khan Khattak, in his presentation, shared personal experiences regarding wetlands from the UK and USA. He emphasised on the need to improve further wetland conservation measures in Pakistan, as they play important roles as habitats and ecosystems from the high-altitude mountains in the north to the sea level in the south.

The speaker explained the two-way relationship that climate change and wetlands have. Dr Shehla Nazneen, from the Department of Environmental Sciences, who is also the Co-organiser of the Society, gave a talk on the different types of wetlands. Shah Faisal, a guest speaker from Islamic Relief Pakistan, highlighted the role of his organisation in wetland conservation and management and how wetlands can play important roles in the current water scarcity problems under changing climates.

Ijaz, another guest speaker from WWF, shared his views on different wetlands in Pakistan and enlightened the audience with different Ramsar Wetlands sites present in Pakistan. President of the society, Shanzae Majeed and the General Secretary Sanya Kiran, of the Environment Society, at the end of the talks, held a Question/Answer session. The president of the society gave closing remarks and thanked the invited speakers.