The oceans are a gift to humans, stretching as wide as the eyes can see, covering almost three-fourths of the earth’s surface. They act as a life support system and help maintain the climate and the ecosystem.

However, human activities are increasingly disrupting the functions of the oceans. Plastic waste created by humans are badly impacting the marine lives and the ecosystem. Animals such as turtles think plastic waste is their food and these already endangered species die from eating this plastic waste.

Various efforts have been undertaken to increase the awareness of the importance of conserving the environment, especially the oceans. However, despite the modern technology, it is difficult to change the mind set of people to be more concerned with the handling of rubbish and waste.

A group of students from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) has taken the initiative to continue the effort of instilling this awareness among society by conducting a turtle conservation campaign. This campaign has been recognized by The Malaysian Book of Records (MBOR).

The campaign that focused on ocean conservation especially the turtles was organized as part of a social service, said project director Easwary A/P Kodisvaren.

The programme called LAHARA: The Tidal Tales of Triumph provided a platform for university students to campaign for increased awareness towards ocean conservation to the public.

“We are very proud because this campaign received support from the university community and the surrounding community, where they imprinted their palm print in colours on the mega-sized canvas, which has received an endorsement from The Malaysia Book of Records.

The activity of palm print imprinting on a canvas measuring 19 x 15 metres took about 24 hours to complete. The process was recorded and streamed live on UMT’s official social media.

“We organized the programme as a show of support towards the marine conservation effort undertaken by UMT, in line with its status a university focusing on marine and a pioneer in marine science and aquatic resources,” she said.

Published by:

Corporate Communications Office

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu