Oleh Tan Chun Hong/Siti Nur Tahirah Jaafar/Nur Zahirah Kamaruddin

The marine ecosystem is facing all kinds of threats resulting from the natural phenomena and uncontrolled manipulation of the marine environment. Various efforts have been taken by government agencies, corporate bodies, and NGOs to raise the awareness and educate the public on the importance of conserving the marine ecosystem. This year, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) collaborated with its corporate strategic partner Bank Rakyat Foundation (YBR) to organize a marine awareness programme that focused on coral reefs. The programme was called Coral Reef Edu-Awareness.

Coral Reef Edu-Awareness was one of the events under the Citizen Scientist Coral Reef Rescue Programme (CSCRP), a campaign that involves everyone in the society, including fishermen, tourist guides, commercial divers, school students, and the rest of the public to help the researchers conserve the coral reefs. Participants of Coral Reef Edu-Awareness were Form 4 students. During the programme, they were able to see for themselves the real coral reefs and the entire ecosystem. The programme’s activities covered the ecological, biological, and chemical aspects of the coral reefs.

The programme was held in two sessions, 5-6 July and 12-13 July 2019, at UMT Research Station on Pulai Bidong. A total of 100 students and 10 teachers from five schools around Terengganu took part in the programme. The schools were SMK Sultan Sulaiman, SMK Chung Hwa Wei Sin, SMA Sultan Zainal Abidin, SMK Lembah Bidong, and MRSM Kuala Terengganu. 

Various activities and games were organized by facilitators from UMT, such as Finding Debris, Marine Gossip, Exploring Coral Reef, Train of Knowledge, Draw and Guess, What’s that Animal? and Acid Ocean. Pulau Bidong is a strategic location for the programme as the students were able to have a closer look at the coral reef ecosystem through snorkeling activity. The students got to express their understanding of the coral reef conservation issues towards the end of the programme during a special slot. The last activity was beach cleanup, which also included briefings by facilitators on how waste that causes ocean pollution can be reduced by replacing plastic straws with bamboo or stainless steel ones, bringing containers from home when buying food, and using recyclable bags when shopping.

The Coral Reef Edu-Awareness programme provided new learning experiences for the students. This programme served as one of the platforms for UMT to share and highlight the latest information on marine issues to the younger generation. The programme might also inspire some students to take up the field of marine science in their tertiary study. Another aim of the programme was to have the participating students help spread information about coral reefs to their peers and become the coral reef ecosystem awareness ambassadors that safeguard its sustainability.

For further information:

Dr. Tan Chung Hong

Lecturer

Faculty of Science and Marine Environment

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu