On the 15th of September 2008, Moorea’s lagoon and one of its lake (called Temea’s lake) became classified as wetlands of world interest as part of the RAMSAR convention of the UNESCO. This distinction has rewarded conservation efforts undertaken by Moorea’s municipality with the setting up of marine protected areas (PGEM – Plan de Gestion de l’Espace Maritime (PGEM)).
On Thrusday February the 2nd, the municipality of Moorea-Maiao has invited more than 450 students from Moorea to celebrate World Wetlands Day. The event took place on the public beach of Temae (Toatea), and the theme of the day was « Wetlands, for the preservation of natural disasters ». The message communicated through this event was :
“Our actions have impacts, together, let’s act eco responsible !”
A strong message that should allow us to reach several objectives :
– a growing awareness of the impacts caused by humans on wetlands, and therefore on the entire environment,
– a growing awareness on the benefits of wetlands for humans ;
– the promotion and valorisation of the initiatives and actions in favor of our environment,
– and finally, the training, implication and information of students, who will be up for actions as the next generation.
All day, informative and sensibilation booths have been installed on the beach. Some activities have also been set up all along the day.
In order to sensitize the public and the youngest at its cause, Te mana o te moana was present with a booth in its effigy.
Alice, our marine biologist, along with our volunteers, Sylvie, Céline and Virginie, have welcomed and sensitized more than 350 elementary school students and around a 100 highschool students to the roles and importance of wetlands for endangered marine wildlife and ecosystems such as sea turtles, marine mammals and coral reefs. Educational games, created by our organisation, were also available so that everyone could learn while having fun.
Moreover, this day happened at the same time as a shooting for a documentary called « A season in Tahiti » (« Une saison à Tahiti »), for which our organisation had been on for a few days, for the documentary. This documentary is a sort of TV reality show quite famous in France, in which the life of the zoo is filmed daily and presented on national chanels. A couple years ago, the team from the Zoo and their film crew are documenting the wild world, and it is as part of this new program that our organisation have been sollicitated and got involved in the project. All activities of our organisation, including our participation to the World Wetlands Day, have been filmed. It is a perfect occasion to shed light on this important event, and to sensitize the public on wetlands conservation. The documentary will be broadcasted on a national channel of French television (France 4), and we will keep you updated of the day of broadcast (it should be some time in October).