Connecticut Sea Grant/University of Connecticut Awarded Grant for an Education and Public Awareness Program for the Connecticut River Estuary and Tidal Wetlands Complex – a U.S. Ramsar site

[Note: The U.S. National Ramsar Committee has embargoed this article until Saturday, February 2 at 8:00 AM U.S. Eastern time.]

For more information contact:

Peg Van Patten, Office of Sea Grant Program at the University of Connecticut

Tel: 860-405-9141

Email: peg.vanpatten@uconn.edu

February 1, 2008

GROTON – The University of Connecticut’s Sea Grant Program has received a $9,738 grant from Environmental Concern, Inc., on behalf of the U.S. National Ramsar Committee, to implement a project to enhance education and public awareness about the Connecticut River Estuary and the surrounding tidal wetlands complex. The award was announced on February 2, 2008. Funding for the grant comes from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wildlife without Borders Global Programs. The grant awards were announced on February 2, 2008, World Wetlands Day.

Through the efforts of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Connecticut River Estuary and Tidal Wetlands Complex were recognized under the Ramsar Convention as a Wetland of International Importance in 1994. The Ramsar Convention (so named for Ramsar, Iran in which it was signed in 1971), is an intergovernmental treaty focused on the conservation and environmentally-sound use of wetlands and their resources (see http://www.ramsar.org) The Connecticut site is now one of 1713 such sites in the world.

Connecticut Sea Grant staff will promote wetland conservation of this estuary through programs that will engage and educate municipal officials, middle/high school teachers, and local residents of the 12 towns located within this Ramsar site, as well as residents throughout the State.

As part of this grant the Sea Grant educators, led by Dr. Juliana Barrett, will:

- create an educational PowerPoint presentation available on compact disc for middle/high school students that will focus on the habitats, processes, species and wetland values of the area;

- offer Project Oceanology educational boat cruises on the lower Connecticut River for municipal officials and teachers, as well as Project Oceanology shoreline programs for area school students;

- offer a lecture series for the general public on topics pertinent to the area;

- host a poster contest for middle/high school students that will incorporate the significance of the area as a Ramsar site and the connection to World Wetlands Day.

The 12 towns within the site are Old Lyme, Lyme, East Haddam, East Hampton, Portland, Cromwell, Middletown, Haddam, Chester, Deep River, Essex, and Old Saybrook.

In addition to Project Oceanology, Connecticut Sea Grant will work with the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), The Nature Conservancy, Connecticut Chapter, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in developing programs and products as part of this grant.

Barrett is a coastal habitat educator with the Connecticut Sea Grant Program and the UConn Department of Extension. Also participating in the project are Nancy Balcom, Sea Grant Extension Leader, and Dr. Diana Payne, Sea Grant Education Coordinator. Environmental Concern Inc. is a public not for profit 501(c) 3 dedicated to working with all aspects of wetlands.

“This award provides us with the opportunity to work with the communities of the lower Connecticut River, an area that is significantly tied historically, economically and ecologically to Long Island Sound.” Said Dr. Sylvain De Guise, director of Connecticut Sea Grant. “By raising awareness of this area as a Ramsar site, we will help to provide local officials and residents with information needed to think beyond town boundaries as land use decisions are made, as well as challenge the next generation to conserve and protect this valuable estuary and wetland complex.”

The Connecticut DEP Office of Long Island Sound manages the Ramsar site.

Connecticut Sea Grant, based at the University of Connecticut’s Avery Point campus, is a state/federal university-based partnership that fosters sustainable use and conservation of coastal and marine resources for the benefit of the environment and current and future generations of residents of Connecticut and the Region. It is part of a national network administered through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

For more information about the project, contact Dr. Juliana Barrett at (860) 405-9106.

For information about Connecticut Sea Grant, see http://www.seagrant.uconn.edu

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