Friday, 16 March 2018

United Nations World Water Day to be celebrated with a forum in Upper Hutt

Upper Hutt City Council is hosting a forum on UN World Water Day—22 March to explore environmental issues and solutions around water, globally and locally.

UPPER HUTT, Wellington NZ, 16 MAR 2018— Expressions Whirinaki Arts and Entertainment Centre is the venue for the World Water Day Forum in Upper Hutt. The forum is a platform for community input focusing on the protection of Te Awakairangi/Hutt River. The event will include presentations and input from guest speakers, schools, community groups, and local and regional councils.

“The Hutt River/Te Awakairangi is one of the most loved and iconic waterways of the Wellington region, but some people aren’t aware that the Hutt Valley catchment is the source of most of the region’s drinking water,” says Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy. “We want to encourage as many people as possible to take part in conversations about the present and future state of our treasured river and Upper Hutt is proud to be hosting this event for World Water Day.”

Guest speakers with expertise in water include Te Kawa Robb from Mountains to Sea Conservation, Stu Farrant from Morphum Environmental, Mike Joy from Massey University, and Marie Brown from The Catalyst Group. There will also be presentations from councils and community-based organisations, demonstratiing how they are taking action to protect the river and highlighting opportunities for people to get involved with local projects.

World Water Day has been celebrated by the United Nations since 1994, and is about focusing attention on the importance of water. World Water Day links to a key UN Sustainable Development goal—ensuring that everyone has access to safe water by 2030—and includes targets on protecting the natural environment and reducing pollution. The World Water Day 2018 theme is ‘Nature for Water,’ which explores nature-based solutions to the water challenges we face in the 21st century. Nature-based solutions include planting trees to replenish forests and restoring wetlands—both sustainable and cost-effective ways to help rebalance the water cycle, mitigate the effects of climate change, and improve human health and livelihoods.

Event details

World Water Day forum
Expressions Whirinaki
22 March, at 5.30 pm.
All welcome, refreshments provided.

ends

© Scoop Media