Save Our Wetlands

2023Climate Change & Environment

Apr 24

Nepal | SENSE | 2023

Namaste!

We are Sustainability and Environmental Studies Endeavor (SENSE), an energetic youth-led non-profit organization based in Kathmandu. Our focus is to promote environmental conservation and stewardship through research, education, and socio-environmental entrepreneurship.

18 - 24 years old
Kathmandu

The Right-Sized Problem

The conservation of wetlands in Kathmandu is often a neglected issue–not even a lot of people in our city know what they are and why they’re important!

What did we do?

The first step to pursuing our mission is to educate the public through a fresh and creative approach. We started with creating a mascot for our campaign–Indra, a black-tailed Godwit, a migratory bird in Nepal. Seeing Indra sparked interest and started conversations in communities! During our launch, we opened the Wetland Information Centre and engaged the community with quizzes, photobook contests and surveys. Pledges went up the walls, showing a commitment to wetland conservation. Through animated videos featuring Indra, we showcased the beauty of the wetlands while revealing their worsening state. We also asked the youth about the information shared in these videos, where prizes awaited those who got the answers right.

Nepal is rich with stories about wetlands, yet sadly, many are undocumented. To celebrate and preserve these tales, we launched the “Tell Us Your Wetland Story” where we encouraged people from across Nepal to share their stories. The response was overwhelming; we received over 50 submissions from communities whose lives were somehow connected to the wetlands. From these submissions, 30 narratives were chosen to be published in a beautifully made storybook. Copies were given to the Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur municipality governments, ensuring that our advocacy reaches more people.

On November 25, 2023, we hosted the Wetland Trail Cycling Treasure Hunt event in partnership with Greenway Nepal. This cycling rally was attended by 119 cyclists who explored seven wetlands covering 7km. Along the way, participants engaged with digital information centers and QR codes stationed at each wetland, providing valuable information about its conservation. They also participated in a treasure hunt, where they collected points and deepened their understanding of wetlands. This guided tour around the wetlands blended elements of culture, education, community and environmental advocacy, which not only promoted our cause but Greenway Nepal’s mission of curbing carbon footprint through a sustainable lifestyle.

Campaign Impact

The impact of our efforts to raise awareness about wetland conservation has been remarkable. Results from the in-person and online surveys showed a 97% increase in awareness among our campaign participants. We are especially encouraged by a growing interest among youth to collaborate with us in preserving urban wetlands, assuring us that our advocacy efforts will go on. Cycling groups are now interested in mapping larger trails that connect multiple wetlands and regularly organize cycling events similar to our guided tours. In our daily campaigning, we have managed to network with a diverse group of individuals outside the environmental sector.

The Rising Nepal, our country’s first English daily broadsheet, published an article about our campaign–which is a big deal, considering this newspaper has a wide readership of 80,000 people online and 4,000 daily copies. We are driven to expand our campaign to other areas in Nepal, reaching more communities and spreading our message of wetland conservation until everyone in our nation hears it.

Impact in Numbers