Cultural heritage and wetland management
Coordinator: Dr. Bishnu B. Bhandari
E-mail: simsar@wlink.com.np
The interdependence between people and wetlands has evolved many cultures (human actions, objects, ideas, sentiments and processes) that have determined their beliefs and customs. These creations influence the attitude of the society towards the utilization of wetlands and their resources. Therefore culture is an important element in the wise use and management of wetland resources. In deed, the use of culture as a tool is a new paradigm in wetland conservation. The session is designed to stimulate discussion on this paradigm employing culture as a tool for conserving wetland resources. Researchers, managers and practitioners are invited to contribute to the session. Papers based on interdisciplinary perspective will receive priority in the session. The prospective authors are encouraged to write, singly or jointly, papers of about 5-7 pages covering at least one or more of the following points
(i) Successful examples of cultural practices/techniques (both material as well as intangible) employed in wetland management and the drivers responsible for their sustainability;
(ii) Different patterns of wetland landscapes (such as rice paddies, fish farimg, rice-cum-fish farming, salt extraction, aqua-farming), how these living landscapes have been used in a sustainable way over millennia and the factors responsible for transferring them over generations;
(iii) The driving force for motivating people to manage wetlands culturally;
(iv) Pragmatic means and ways of promoting cultural practice as a tool to manage and conserve wetland resources.