Windhoek: Young Namibians have been called upon to participate in wetlands conservation efforts to celebrate and raise the profile of the country's important wetlands. The call was made on Monday by the Deputy Director for Wildlife Monitoring and Research in the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT), Kenneth Uiseb, during a discussion titled 'Protecting wetlands through indigenous knowledge'.

According to Namibia Press Agency, Namibia has five officially designated Ramsar sites, comprising three coastal areas, Walvis Bay, Sandwich Harbour, and the Orange River Mouth, and two inland sites, the Etosha Pan and the Bwabwata-Okavango site. Ramsar sites are wetlands of international importance designated under the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty signed in 1971 for the conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems such as lakes, marshes, and mangroves.

These sites are vital for migratory birds such as flamingos and pelicans and encompass diverse ecosystems ranging from coastal lagoons to ephemeral pans and river systems. Speaking at the Government Information Centre (GIC), Uiseb stressed that Namibia is fortunate to have a high literacy rate and called on young people to actively participate in wetlands conservation.

'Those that are at the university studying natural resources management, it's my call on them to take up courses or research activities that are related to understanding more about the wetlands,' Uiseb said, adding that such studies would inform and support conservation policymaking. The deputy director underscored that research is often overlooked, despite being a critical activity that provides valuable data.

'There is not so much research being done in Namibia on the wetlands but there has been some long-term monitoring activities on these wetlands,' he noted. Uiseb concluded by saying that wetlands are delicate ecosystems and that 'we need to know whether their ecological integrity is maintained or if there's any changes that require intervention.'