| WetKit was initiated in 1998 as a joint project of the North American Wetlands Conservation Council (Canada) and Environment Canada's Canadian Wildlife Service. The purpose at that time was to prepare a comprehensive bibliography of practical "tools" for wetland conservation for the students of the Working with Wetlands in Canada training course sponsored by the Council and CWS. It was decided in the implementation phase to use these references to create a searchable database. At the same time, demand for public access to tools for environmental stewardship was coming to a head. Government and non-government agencies were receiving a growing number of requests for "how to get started" on various actions to conserve or use wetlands and other valuable habitats in a wise manner. The WetKit searchable database represented an excellent resource for responding to these requests. The Internet provided the opportunity for sharing the wealth of scientific knowledge and practical experience on wetland conservation directly to those who could make a difference on the ground. Additional partners stepped forward in 1999 and 2000 to help make the WetKit searchable database available publicly on the world wide web - and the WetKit Internet site was launched in June, 2000. A number of people have been instrumental to the success of this site. In the early days, Manjit Kerr-Upal, Sean Burns, Sarah Lawson, Greg Searle and Sean Lynch all caught the excitement of the vision and contributed a lot of time and energy to make the site a reality. Clayton Rubec, Ken Cox, Louise Kingsley, Bob McLean, Doug Tilden, Garry McLean, Morag McPherson, Ken Harris, Stephen Virc, John Dauvergne and Rick Wishart have championed the initiative when their support was needed most. Theresa Dupuis has been unfailingly helpful and encouraging. To all, my sincere thanks. Pauline Lynch-Stewart
Ottawa, February 2004 |
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