Anusha K., The New Straits Times 4 Apr 09;
The Alstom Foundation has taken it upon itself to teach the young about the importance of conserving marine life. ANUSHA K. writes.
AS a child growing up in a city, I never knew much about marine life and the importance of conserving them.
During holidays at the beach, I would pick up as many corals as I could and sometimes even bring jellyfish back to the city, much to the amazement of my parents.
To stop kids from doing such things, it is important to educate them, especially when they are young, about conserving marine life, particularly the coral reefs, which are essential in sustaining the biodiversity of the marine ecosystem.
A healthy reef supports 25 per cent of all marine animal species. Ten per cent of coastal commercial fish species live in coral reefs while 40 per cent use it as a spawning ground.
In line with its philosophy of providing environmentally-friendly products and services, Alstom (which specialises in power generation and rail transportation) aims to educate Malaysian children about the importance of our country’s coral reefs.
The move is initiated by the Alstom Foundation whose headquarters is in France. It provides funds for environmentally-friendly projects worldwide.
Alstom has 70,000 staff in 70 countries. All are given the opportunity to propose any environmentally-friendly project that fits in with its philosophy.
The Rainforest to Reef programme was among the 12 projects chosen worldwide by the foundation.
The Rainforest to Reef Programme:
This outreach programme aims to educate schoolchildren on the conservation of coral reefs. Alstom provides funding for the development of a curriculum to educate children on the Marine Park islands of Tioman, Redang and Perhentian, off the East Coast of Malaysia, which are renowned for its beautiful corals.
This programme is in collaboration with Reef Check Malaysia (RCM) and the Marine Parks department.
“The programme was proposed by one of our staff as it complements our offerings in electricity generation and rail transportation technologies which enhance economic development, social progress and environmental protection,” said Saji Raghavan, Alstom’s country president.
The curriculum will include Coral Reefs Camps for the schools on all three islands.
Tailored for primary schoolchildren in Standard Five, it was developed by RCM, a non-governmental branch of the Marine Parks Department.
The programme features local facilitators who will be responsible for its implementation in selected schools.
Saji and his team as well as several members of the media spent two days on the islands during the recent launch of the programme. This programme not only aims to protect the environment but also the livelihood of the communities involved.
The programme (which was carried out simultaneously on all three islands), started with a beach clean-up in Tioman. Some 180 children from Sekolah Kebangsaan Kampung Tekek, Pulau Tioman, a dozen teachers and 50 employees of Alstom took part in the clean-up with an equal number of participants on each island.
The children picked up trash along the roadside and on the shores. The group with the largest trash collection was the winner.
The pupils were even seen picking up trash from the bins of restaurants. They were only allowed to collect man-made trash such as plastic bottles, cigarette butts, plastic bags and wrappers. They were not allowed to collect natural things such as leaves, coconuts, tree branches and seashells.
The official launch of the programme was held on the second day at the Marine Park Exhibition Centre in Tioman Island.
Besides conserving the coral reefs, other activities will include jungle trekking, a recycling campaign, snorkelling as well as the Coral Reefs Camp.
The first batch of Coral Reef Camps 1 will be held from today until April 6 (Redang), April 11 to 13 (Perhentian) and June 27 to 29 (Tioman).
The second batch — Coral Reefs Camps 2 — will be held from July 11 to 13 (Redang), July 18 to 20 (Perhentian) and Aug 1 to 3 (Tioman).
The Coral Reef Camps 2 uses the same syllabus as Camp 1 but goes to different schools. The syllabus is a mix of educational and recreational activities.
Julian Hyde, general manager of RCM, said Standard Five pupils were chosen as they were more receptive with a better attention span.
“To target young adults may be a little harder as it’s hard to gain their attention for a long period,” he said.
“However, children are not the only ones who need to be educated on coral reefs. There are also certified divers who cause damage to the corals with their negligent behaviour.
“By educating the younger generation we’re already taking the first step in saving marine life,” Hyde added.
The Rainforest to Reef programme will continue until 2011.
