Last weekend was a very enjoyable time for my interns and me, as we gathered nearly 150 kids and adults at the Sewri Bay, along the east coast of Mumbai, for our Annual World Wetlands’ Day — Wader and Flamingo Watch. It was another of our non-religious, nature-based, outdoorsy and open-to-all nature festival. The event was to commemorate the signing of the Ramsar Convention on Feb 2, 1971, where-by all signatory nations declared their commitment to protecting wetlands.

When I first heard about this declaration and the related day in 1997, I found it absurd and laughable. Why would we need to dedicate a day in a year to think about wetlands? Wasn’t it obvious that we need to protect our water reserves? Well, after nearly two decades and a whole lot of travelling across the country, it seems obvious to me that we urbanites, and in many cases even rural people, don’t realise the value of our wetlands, and the need to dedicate a day or more to their protection, cleaning and rehabilitation.