Young professional in Wetlands

Since 1971, the globe has celebrated 52 years as a perfect period for raising awareness of the vital ecosystems. The celebration aims to increase awareness and encourage people to recognize the critical importance of wetlands. Wetlands are essential for vital ecosystems and biodiversity, they are a home to 40% of all plant and animal species.

The South African Wetlands Society is a nonprofit organization that aims at building and promoting excellence, professionalism, and ethics in the Wetland Community of Practice of South Africa. Its goal is to promote wetland sciences, conservation, and management through cooperation and self-regulation of all Society members by developing and maintaining professional standards and best management practices of South African wetland practitioners who have subscribed to the organization.

The Society is running its first-ever photography contest to grow its membership and improve awareness of their range of work.

The South African Wetlands Society has opened a public call for nominations in different categories which one of them is “young professional”. This award is for those younger than 35 years of age who have shown enthusiasm and dedication towards furthering knowledge, understanding and involvement in the wetland field, as well as having helped further wetland science/management and/or have played an active role in the wetland community at local, provincial or national levels.

The deadline for nominations to be submitted is Friday 15 September 2023 at 2pm.

Full details about the awards as well as nomination forms can be downloaded at the following link:

“Wetlands are essential to human life and rich in natural beauty. We are losing wetlands three times faster than forests. There is an urgency to raise global awareness on wetlands to arrest and reverse their rapid loss and encourage actions to restore and conserve these vital ecosystems”,Dr. Musonda Mumba, Secretary General, Convention on Wetlands.