Thousands of school children and their families attended WWF Wetlands Carnival on Sunday, 20th April at Ali Institute of Education. It is the only environmental event in the city which involves schools, families and children. It is a means of education through entertainment. This year the themes of 3 dimensional model making competition among school students were related to wetlands, Pakistan Wetlands Programme being the sponsor of the event in Lahore and Islamabad. While the carnival in Karachi was co-sponsored by ICI.

Students from over 20 schools enthusiastically participated in creating these 3-dimensional environmental displays and the winners were awarded prizes in a prize distribution ceremony which was conducted at the end of the carnival. The chief guest of this carnival was Ali Habib, Director General of WWF-Pakistan.

The stalls at the carnival included environmental games, face painting, snacks and much more. Puppet and magic shows kept entertaining families throughout the day. Bouncing Castle was a great attraction for younger children. Live musical performance had also been arranged. Awareness-raising poster, bookmarks and booklets about Wetlands were distributed free of cost to the participants. Natura - Pakistan’s first environment magazine, was also available at the carnival.

The WWF Wetlands Carnival provided a mix of educational, entertaining and promotional activities. A similar carnival will be held in Islamabad on April 27th.

About the organizer:
WWF is the world’s leading conservation organization. WWF-Pakistan strives to carry out global conservation initiatives within the context of national priorities. An important part of conservation is building capacity of individuals to take care of their environment in a better way. Nature Carnivals are a good way to communicate with public and educate them about the significance of nature conservation.

Contact:
Samman Ehsan,
publications@wwf.org.pk

About the sponsor:
The Ministry of Environment's Pakistan Wetlands Programme funded by UNDP, GEF, RNE, WWF-International and Pakistan Poverty alleviation Fund aims to promote the conservation of the country’s freshwater and coastal wetlands and their associated biodiversity By means of a positive enabling national environment for wetlands conservation through policy development, training, capacity and wareness-building.

If you want to be friends of the Pakistan Wetlands Programme visit
www.pakistanwetlands.org
and www.pakwetnet.com
Contact:
Marriyum Aurangzeb,
maurangzeb@wwf.org.pk