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Published by the Peter Underwood Centre www.facebook.com/UnderwoodCentre/ February 8, 2021 ’

FREE POSTER WITH VITAL ROLE TODAY’S EDITION:P2 DID you know last Tuesday, February 2, was World Wetlands Day? This day of celebration marked the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) in Ramsar, Iran, on February 2, 1971. But the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service are celebrating throughout the month of February with a range of activities and competitions at the Tamar Island Wetlands Centre. They include a photo competition, colouring-in/ drawing competition, a scavenger hunt and guided tours with discovery rangers. You can find out more here: parks.tas.gov.au/be-involved/ news-and-events/world-wetlands -day-2021 The Tamar Island Wetlands Centre, in Launceston, is a Children’s University learning destination, so members can earn hours in their passports Pictures: iStock/ slovegrove/ Nigel Marsh for visiting the centre. on Earth. Wetlands also protect Ten Tasmanian wetlands are But you don’t have to visit to get our shores from waves, prevent listed as Ramsar wetlands: involved. floods and store vast amounts of Apsley Marshes, East Coast The colouring-in competition carbon. , sheet can be downloaded from has 66 listed Ramsar Flood Plain Lower Ringarooma the PWS website. wetlands. River, Interlaken Lakeside RAISING AWARENESS: The Tamar Island Wetlands Centre is Reserve, Jocks , Lavinia, To be included on this list celebrating the 50th anniversary of World Wetlands Day for the entire Fresh and saltwater wetlands are Little Waterhouse , Logan wetlands must be considered of month of February. areas of land that are flooded by Lagoon, Moulting Lagoon and international significance in water, either permanently or at Pitt Water–. tailed eagles and forty-spotted terms of “biodiversity and certain times of the year. pardalotes. uniqueness of their ecology, For an additional challenge, see They include swamps and A total of 21 migratory wader botany, zoology, limnology or if you can find out the location of marshes, , lagoons, birds have been recorded at the hydrology”. these wetlands. saltmarshes, mudflats, site. mangroves, coral reefs, bogs As a challenge, you might like to For example, is The is an important part and peatlands. research what all these terms located on the south-east corner of the East Asian-Australasian mean and why they are of . There are even underground Flyway, which we learnt about in important. wetlands. An interesting fact about Logan The Wonder Weekly on October Wetlands store and filter The Ramsar criteria also Lagoon is that most of the water 19 last year. considers the importance of that flows into it is groundwater. freshwater, provide us with food, You can find this edition, and all wetlands to waterbirds and fish help the international economy, It supports a number of others from 2020, here: species. as well as being an important vulnerable or endangered www.utas.edu.au/underwood- home for a large percentage of There are important wetlands in species, including dwarf centre/publications-and- all the plant and animal species all regions of Tasmania. galaxias, fairy terns, wedge- resources/the-wonder-weekly “Education perhaps more than anything else is a passport to a better life.” - Peter Underwood AC Pictures: iStock/ Hannah Stampke