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Wednesday, February 10, 2016

MNS talk on Wetlands

Photocredit Hans Hazebroek

Dear members,

You are invited to a talk by our MNS member Rebecca D'Cruz. The talk will be on Wetlands, held in conjunction with World Wetlands day that was celebrated worldwide on Feb 2. 

  • Date:  Wed 24 Feb 2016
  • Time:  7.30 PM Sharp
  • Venue: UCSI University, Kuching. Lot 2498, Block 16, Kuching Central Land District, Jalan Tun Jugah, 93350 Kuching, Sarawak. Map to USCI in included in this email.


WETLANDS: OUR FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE

Water-related hazards account for 90% of all hazards we face in Sarawak, and their frequency and intensity is rising. More and more people experience water scarcity and suffer the impacts of major floods, droughts, storms and water-related diseases.
Local communities are facing increased risks of floods, droughts and other water related hazards. Developments upstream in a river basin or delta can have impacts on people downstream increasing their vulnerability. 
To a large extent water-related hazards are caused and aggravated by the loss and degradation of inland and coastal wetlands, linked with poor land and water management. 
Societies accumulate risk as the natural landscape buffers, “wetlands”, continue to degrade. It is high time that disaster reduction strategies are developed based on an understanding of the interlinkages between landscape, livelihoods and disaster risk. 

Biography of the Speaker: Rebecca D’Cruz

Rebecca was born in Kuantan, Pahang and spent her formative years along the shores of the South China Sea where she developed her love for the ocean and other watery habitats, and all the living things that inhabit it.
Armed with a degree in environmental sciences, Rebecca spent eight years working on wetland conservation and management projects in South-east Asia, first with Universiti Malaya and later with Wetlands International – Asia Pacific. Between 1997 and 2000, she worked at the secretariat of the Ramsar Convention in Gland, Switzerland, where she served as Regional Coordinator for Asia and the Pacific, and learned how to ski and enjoy fondue. She returned to Malaysia in mid-2000, and moved to Sarawak with her Sarawakian husband to establish a natural resource management consultancy aimed at providing expert practical advice and assistance in the field of natural resource management and conservation, primarily in wetlands, in the Asia region. 
At home in Kuching, she volunteers her time with various non-governmental organizations such as the Sarawak Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the Friends of Sarawak Museum. She has been an MNS member for 28 years.

Admission to the talk is free. So you are welcome to bring along some friends. 
Please register to: mnskuching@gmail.com :att Cynthia before 23 Feb
 See you there!-- 

Cynthia
MNS Committee
Love Life,Love Nature.


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