On February 5, 2022, the San Diego Audubon Society and AAP-CA3’s Climate Change & Health Committee gathered at Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve to celebrate, preserve and love our local wetlands.

Dr. Benjamin Shleifer serves as the San Diego Pediatricians for Clean Air (SDPCA) wetlands liaison in the group’s collaboration with Rewild Mission Bay and is passionate about speaking up to make a difference around climate change and the impact it will have on the planet and kids’ health. Dr. Shleifer shared his experience from Love Your Wetlands Day.

“Love Your Wetlands Day 2022 was a great success! Beautiful weather along with inspiring exhibits from numerous stakeholders that support Rewild Mission Bay was met with a great turnout from the community for the event. Kids, adults and seniors took part and it was great to see the enthusiasm for protecting our green and blue natural spaces. It was especially great to see kids of all ages getting out in the wetlands to learn about what we are doing to protect the area, participate in planting and cleanup efforts, and meet some local wildlife and animal friends! LYWD was proof of concept that bringing children out to the wetlands not only has served to inspire and educate the younger generations about climate change and protecting our wetlands, but also was an opportunity where they were able to be physically active, soak in some sunshine and vitamin D, and have fun out in nature. From an organizational standpoint, LYWD was also a great way for the many stakeholders to meet one another and learn about each other’s respective groups and missions and numerous connections were forged. This undoubtedly will spark new initiatives and collaborations in the future that will help increase awareness in our community and among elected leaders to protect our wetlands!”

Love Your Wetlands Day is held annually in February, for more information please visit https://rewildmissionbay.org. For those interested in year-round efforts around conserving the wetlands the San Diego Audubon Society holds Wander the Wetlands every second and fourth Saturday from 9-11 a.m. For a full list of upcoming events, visit the San Diego Audubon Society’s events calendar.

Thank you to everyone who attended and supported Love Your Wetlands Day and for your continued efforts to keep these spaces wild for our children and future generations!