By Dr Becky Ndjoze-Ojo
The Wetland Working Group of Namibia has produced this resource book, called “Caring for our water” for both teachers and learners to help inform us what we ought to do.
The book “Caring for our Water’ is written for Upper Junior School learners to make them and all of us, aware of this precious resource and the threats of water pollution. The future care of our water resources lies in the hands of the young people here today. It is in fact, YOU who will make sure that our water and wetlands are cared for and that our water resources are used wisely without being polluted.
I hope that this book will help you to remember that “Caring for our water” is not only about the saving of water but also about “caring for our wetlands”.
Wetlands are those wet places, like our rivers, oshanas, lakes, dams and lagoons that serve both as a source of water to us, our livestock and as habitat and/or home to many different water plants and animals.
Wetlands and water are closely linked and we need to take care of our wetlands to make sure that we have a good, clean supply of water. This book aims to make us all aware of the link between “caring for our water” and healthy wetlands. It emphasizes the fact that we are a reflection of our environment just as our environment is our reflection. In other words, what is good for the environment is also good for us.
Last year, Namibia enjoyed the best rainy season anyone could remember. By contrast, however, this year seems to be very dry. The truth is that we are simply back to once again having to cope with living in a dry country.
Interestingly, this year’s international theme for World Water Day is “Coping with water scarcity” and one way of coping with water scarcity is “Caring for our water”.
Water is very precious, especially to us here in Namibia. And it goes without saying that if something is precious, then it must be taken care of, without being polluted or wasted.
Moreover, it has been scientifically proven that when it gets cold here many birds fly away to spend the summer in the northern hemisphere where many of them breed and when summer returns, the birds come back, they thus, migrate. Nations from all over the world were worried about wetlands and their role as breeding, nesting, and feeding sites for millions of migratory waterbirds.
Concern for these birds brought nations together to deliberate on the best ways to cater for them. For example, having safe places for them to feed and rest on their long journeys. Since then, they have created a network of more than 100 protected wetlands to allow the birds to migrate safely each year.
These very special wetlands support not only waterbirds, but also fish, frogs and other wetland animals and plants.
Namibia has since 1995 been a member of the Ramsar Convention, an International Convention on Wetlands that “cares for our water and wetlands.”
The Ramsar Convention is named after a town on the Caspian Sea in Iran where it was founded 35 years ago. Namibia has four such very special wetlands or Ramsar sites:
– the Orange River Mouth that we share with South Africa;
– the Etosha Pan, the only place where greater and lesser flamingos breed;
– Sandwich Harbour, an important stop-over for birds flying north; and
– the Walvis Bay Wetlands, where the lagoon, saltpans and mudflats support up to 250 000 birds in summer.
Furthermore, even when the migrant species leave, up to 80 000 birds stay there in winter. It is considered to be one of the most important coastal wetlands in Southern Africa and the one of the top three in Africa.
It is my sincere hope that this book will be used creatively to teach you more about our water resources and how to look after them. It will show you how each of us can help to make a difference by “Caring for our Water”. I hope that this book will make you think about how important our precious water resources are, and to enhance your appreciation of the true value of water and the wetlands that support life here in our dry country.