WLI Bulletin March 2022

The Kansas Wetlands Education Center (Great Bend, Kansas, USA) located at Cheyenne Bottoms, is the largest wetland complex in the interior of the United States. We celebrated World Wetlands Day throughout the month of February by having area middle school students create stop-animation commercials.

Using the materials from worldwetlandsday.org, as well as information about local wetlands, and props of wetland backgrounds, plants, and animals, 527 students created 105 commercials.

These commercials were highlighted on the Kansas Wetlands Education Center Facebook page @wetlands center, and some of the favourites can be found on this YouTube playlist.

Rob Penner, Avian Conservation Manager for The Nature Conservancy provided a pizza party for the commercial he thought best shared the wetlands and Cheyenne Bottoms’ story. Here is a link to his favorite: https://youtu.be/xoOFSXxpafg

Students learned that wetlands are biodiversity hotspots, freshwater stores, and carbon sinks, but are disappearing at a rate three times that of forests.  Products the students created were meant to inspire viewers to #ActForWetlands and to value, manage, and restore wetlands.

Cheyenne Bottoms is a Wetland of International Importance and a globally important stopover for thousands of migratory shorebirds and waterfowl.  The site also supports many threatened or endangered birds during nesting, staging, or wintering periods. Cheyenne Bottoms is one of the top migratory shorebird staging areas in the United States, with 10 species of shorebirds having a significant percentage of their populations stopping at Cheyenne Bottoms in a given year.

The Kansas Wetlands Education Center is dedicated to educating the public about wetland communities, their importance, and the need for conservation and restoration.

The crocodile (Gando) or short snout with the English name "Mugger" and the scientific name Crocodylus Palustris is a unique species that belongs to the Indian subcontinent and its distribution in Iran mainly is in the southeast. Gando lives in Bahu Estuary International Wetland and Gwater bay, which is located in the southeast of Iran in Sistan and Baluchestan province. Due to the importance of this species as the only crocodiles in Iran, it has been put on the national endangered reptile list and a nationally protected species.

As in other parts of the world, different species of crocodiles may create conflicts with local people in the form of attacks on humans and livestock of villagers. This underscores the importance of managing this issue, which is directly related to Gando’s protection.

The overall objectives of this project were to lay the groundwork and empower local communities to achieve examples of wise use of facilities, especially when it comes to helping protect Gando near Bahu Estuary, and Gwater Bay.

The project also sought to

-       Reduce habitat degradation and increase conservation measures

-       Raise awareness at all national, regional, and local levels to protect regionally important species such as Gando

-       Build capacity to develop responsible tourism based on Gando and its surrounding environment

-       Provide opportunities for the exchange of information about Gando and its habitat,

-       Develop the necessary capabilities and skills of stakeholders (individual and groups) to motivate them to participate in the protection of endangered Gando species

-       Reduce pressure on wetland biological resources

Moreover, it worked towards new strategies to make sustainable use of the wetland resources and an ecological approach to the conservation of the wetland.

Finding the Reasons for Conflicts

Our team held training sessions for selected target groups such as students and local people in villages which according to surveys, had the highest level of conflict in recent years (Dargas, Hoot Kat Bala, Hoot kat Payeen, Kahirborz, Kahnani Kash and Bahukalat).

After conducting the necessary training, distributing educational items, and reviewing the results of the relevant questionnaires, we saw an increase of awareness among trained people about recognizing this species and reducing the conflict between humans and Gandos.

This is achieved by reviewing the existing problems and obtaining solutions: developing infrastructure facilities conducting educational programs for different age groups.

Through those preparations we identified the most important ways to reduce Gando conflicts: providing facilities and ways to access water supply for drinking and other daily uses on one hand, and establishing resident facilitators for continuous training, on the other hand.

Gando and Local People

The implementation stages of this project were planned based on people's cooperation.

The activities were diverse, including: a training workshop for stakeholders on the ecological services of Gando and its habitat; a joint workshop with stakeholders on receiving and aggregating ideas; and publishing educational content in different forms.

Then we supported the construction of information boards and an ecotourism pavilion and information centre in Bahukalat village as a tourism target village based on Gando ecological services.

Other approaches included: marketing and connecting local ecotourism to the market to attract tourists and sell products; run a one-day program called with Gando; a visit to the research station; a visit to the ecotourism house and handicraft exhibition; and  exchanges on the experience of living near Gando habitat and local and indigenous games.

With the implementation of these plans, it is expected that the conflict cases will be reduced to a minimum in these areas and this experience can be used as a model in crocodile habitats as well as other endangered species in Iran.