This post is written for the “Save the Ocean” group-writing project.

It is very important to have a minister who is concerned about the environment in the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (in Malaysia) instead of somebody who holds the post because he was offered it, or somebody who is into it because it pays better. Similarly, in any environment-related NGOs such as the Malaysian Nature Society or the WWF, we need leaders who are proactive and who will protect the environment at all costs.

Here’s how you can ensure that the person you vote for will protect the environment (and the coasts):

• Learn who your representatives are (get to know them) and where they stand on key environment/ocean protection measures.
• Write or call your elected officials to tell them that your support will depend on their taking strong conservation position on issues relating to the environment.
• Attend an ocean conservation meeting or other gathering aimed at building an effective ocean constituency.

January 2008 is “Save the Ocean” month here at The Giving Hands. Click here for more information on how you too, can save our oceans, and remember to subscribe to The Giving Hands for your daily updates!

This guest-post is brought to you by Miranda.

Image credit: SRI International.

When it comes to environmentally friendly investing, many of us overlook investing in companies that create innovative products that can help us improve the quality of the planet.

One of these ways is ocean water harvesting. It is possible to harvest energy from the pounding waves, and to do so in a relatively environmentally-friendly way. It is interesting to note that the oceans are a great, mostly untapped, natural resource. Not only does it provide food, but it also offers interesting solutions to a variety of problems, including energy.

With USD 100 oil increasing in likelihood, and with concerns about the planet’s climate mounting, it makes sense to use what we can. You can buy your own small ocean water harvesting unit (if you live near the ocean) to help power your home, or you can advocate the use of renewable energy in your city, and invest in viable companies that work toward producing the technology to make renewable energy more cost-efficient.

Miranda Marquit is a personal finance writer. She writes for Yielding Wealth and the AllBusiness Personal Finance Corner.

This post is written for the “Save the Ocean” group-writing project by Pearl, who has a background in science, business management and IT, lives in New Jersey, and blogs at Fresh Perspectives about blogging, social media, web 2.0 and self improvement.

I realized after picking my post topic what kind of mess I had gotten myself into. I say I got myself in a mess because it is not easy to write in one post all about wetlands. But I will try to cover as much as I can to make you understand why it is so important to support our wetlands.

In order for us to understand why we need to support our wetlands, it is essential to get familiar with some of the terms that all of us might hear and might even feel we know what they mean but still not consciously think of exactly how they influence our lives.

Wetland is an area of land that gets saturated by either the ground water or surface water and it contains hydrophilic plants, plants that only grow in the water or saturated soils where there is no sign of oxygen.

Image credit: Narew River National Park @ Ramsar

Rivers, lakes, ponds, marshes, temporary pools and even swamps, all are classified as wetlands and they form the most important parts of our ecosystem. Ecosystem is nothing but the system of interaction between living organisms with their non-living environment.

There are thousands of species of animals and plants, ranging from tiny microscopic forms to larger animals and trees that grow and only survive in the wetlands. So we can say that the wetlands, along with these species of plants and animals, help us in regulating the environment in many ways.

• Clean Drinking Water: Wetlands protect drinking water by filtering out chemicals, pollutants, and sediments that would otherwise clog and contaminate our waters.
• Critical Habitats: Wetlands provide critical habitats for a major portion of the state’s fish and wildlife, including endangered, commercial and recreational species.
• Flood Control: Wetlands soak up runoff from heavy rains and snow melts, providing natural flood control and also release flood waters during droughts.
• Medicines: most of the plants growing in wetlands and different species of animals have been used in homeopathic as well as modern medicines.

Healthy Wetlands, Healthy People

Image credit: World Wetlands Day 2008 @ The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

Before 1980s, these values were not appreciated much by the governments across the world, and vast majority of wetlands were even termed as “wastelands”. As a result, people didn’t do anything to preserve these lands and due to dredge and fill activities for new development, drainage, pollution and sometimes even natural causes, millions of acres of wetlands get destroyed which result in erosion, flooding and sedimentation

So, protecting the remaining wetlands has become a critical priority of the world’s nations.

Image credit: World Wetlands Day 2008 @ The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

In an effort to educate people and raise public awareness, February 2nd every year is celebrated as the World Wetlands Day. This day marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Each year since 1997, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and groups of citizens at all levels of the community have taken advantage of the opportunity to undertake actions aimed at raising public awareness of wetland values and benefits in general and the Ramsar Convention in particular.

From 1997 to 2007, the Convention’s Web site has posted reports from more than 95 countries of WWD activities of all sizes and shapes, from lectures and seminars, nature walks, children’s art contests, sampan races, and community clean-up days, to radio and television interviews and letters to newspapers, to the launch of new wetland policies, new Ramsar sites, and new programmes at the national level.

Government agencies and private citizens from all over the world have sent us their news, often with photographs, and these annual summaries and 900+ individual reports, with more than 1200 images, make an excellent archive of ideas for future celebrations.

- Source: Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

And On February 2, 2008, United States Embassies from South America to the Middle East will join their local communities to commemorate World Wetlands Day, an annual celebration of the vital importance of wetlands to the world’s ecological health and of efforts to conserve these invaluable habitats. The day marks the anniversary of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, signed February 2, 1971 in Ramsar, Iran.

- Source: U.S. Department of State

In order for us to continue to receive many benefits from our wetlands, it’s important to join the efforts initiated by the local communities and state in whichever way is possible. Some of these could be:

• Join local organizations that are involved in habitat conservation, research and public education.
• Volunteer your time in wetland conservation work started by local chapters of your nation’s wetland conservation work.
• Attend events organized by these organizations and get educated.
• Make donations towards research.

Here are some resources for further education and learning about wetlands and human health:

• Current State & Trends Assessment @ Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
• Wetlands Education
• A glossary of beach terms

January 2008 is “Save the Ocean” month here at The Giving Hands. Click here for more information on how you too, can save our oceans, and remember to subscribe to The Giving Hands for your daily updates!