To mark World Wetlands Day on 2nd February, the Young Friends of the Curraghs Wildlife Park are focusing their forthcoming monthly meeting on wetlands: the wildlife they contain; the benefits they bring to people; and the reasons we need to care for them, all around the world as well as here in the Isle of Man.
The meeting will take place at 2pm on Sunday 31st January at the Ballaugh Curragh, which is the most important wetland wildlife site in the Isle of Man, something which was recognised in 2006 when it was designated as a Ramsar Wetland of international significance to wildlife.
The meeting will begin with a short presentation in the Wildlife Park schoolroom, followed by a walk around the Park’s nature trail through some of the curragh habitat and a walk in the Ballaugh curragh wetland at the rear of the Wildlife Park. The walks will be led by John 'Dog' Collister, well known in the Isle of Man for his love and detailed local knowledge of the Ballaugh curragh.
The meeting is open to the general public as well as members of the Young Friends of the Curraghs Wildlife Park and the organisers hope to see as many people as possible. However, if people wish to see the animal collection in the Wildlife Park before the meeting, they will pay the usual admission fee.
Participants are advised to bring waterproof footwear and all children must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
World Wetlands Day marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2nd 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.
Ballaugh Curragh is a complex mosaic of interrelated peatland habitats dominated by grey willow and birch scrub locally known as 'curragh'. Of particular significance are good populations of marsh orchids and a high diversity of breeding birds, including the threatened Corncrake.
The biodiversity of the site is known to have contributed to its cultural importance as an early settlement, and hence to its considerable value as an archaeological resource. Thus Ballaugh Curragh forms a culturally-defined area of the Isle of Man as well as a distinct wetland.
The presence of impressive numbers of winter Hen Harriers and traditionally-managed meadows with summer displays of thousands of orchids attracts visitors for both bird-watching and the popular 'orchid tours' run by the Manx Wildlife Trust.
The Young Friends of the Curraghs Wildlife Park meet on the last Sunday of every month to learn about the natural world.
