To celebrate the annual World Ocean Day that falls on June 8, this year we and the LOKA KKPN Pekanbaru held a three-day event in Kiabu Village for the schoolchildren in Kiabu Village. The event was an extension of our KELAUT (Nature and Marine Class) activity under the Marine Conservation program that aims to educate kids through fun, educational activities on conservation.
On the first day, we had 25 PAUD (early childhood education) students took part in a coloring activity. We gave them coloring sheets of marine animals such as sharks, dolphins, clown fish and turtles; the latter two are commonly found in the Kiabu seas. The event finished before lunchtime and before the children went home we gave each of them a reusable water bottle as a way to nurture good eco-friendly habits from an early age.
The second day was filled with activities for elementary school kids. We had a video presentation, lessons on coral reefs, mangrove ecosystems, protected animals in TWP (Marine Recreational Park) Anambas and marine debris. By the end of the class, instead of having a regular quiz to test their knowledge, we created a life-size game of snakes and ladders that we laid out on a field. The rule of the game was to move forward, they had to answer questions related to marine conservation and life correctly.
For the third and final day of the celebration, we invited middle school students of SMP 01 Kiabu for a trip to Hiu Island. There, we had games and a presentation with LOKA KKPN Pekanbaru on the conservation area inside TWP Anambas, marine debris and we also challenged the students to stop throwing waste into the ocean.
The main highlight of the field trip was certainly the beach clean-up competition. We divided students into small groups and then they had to collect as many single-use plastic bottles and cups as possible in 15 minutes. The team that collected the most waste was crowned the winner. From the clean-up competition, we collected 75 kgs of marine debris that we took home to Kiabu to be processed and recycled at the Recycling Centre.
It was the first time that we had a multi-day celebration for World Ocean Day in Kiabu and we were ecstatic to see the high enthusiasm from the students and hoped they gained more knowledge about marine conservation from this event. Look forward to seeing what we come up with for next year’s World Ocean Day!