Program Penghayatan Taman Laut Malaysia Zon Timur Siri 1 2008

Program Penghayatan Taman Laut Malaysia 2008

‘Program Penghayatan Taman Laut’ is a programme established in the year 2006 to promote conservation of the marine park ecosystem through joint responsibility for sustaining mutual benefits derived from such efforts. The activities prepared in this programme seeks to attract the participants’ cooperation and their willingness-to-learn more about the valuable but vulnerable marine ecosystem. The programme had been divided into 3 zones, the Northern Zone (Pulau Payar Marine Park), the Southern Zone (Pulau Tioman Marine Park) and the Eastern Zone (Pulau Redang Marine Park).

As a continuation to the previous years outreach and awareness raising activities, the ‘Program Penghayatan Taman Laut Zon Timur Siri 1 2008’ was being held at Pusat Kokurikulum Negeri Terengganu Cawangan Pulau Redang from 20 to 23 April 2008. The programme was participated by 100  students from various secondary schools around Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Kelantan and Terengganu. Together with them were 10 teachers and more than 22 trainers and co-curricular centre officers from those states.

This programme was co-organized by the Ministry of Education (MoE) through the Terengganu and Selangor State Departments of Education and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment through its Department of Marine Park (Pulau Redang Marine Park Unit). There were also several organizations that involved in this programme such as the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS), Sea Turtle and Terrapin Rehabilitation Group of University Malaysia Terengganu and Sekolah Kebangsaan Pulau Redang.

The programme aimed to enhance awareness of the importance of marine ecosystem and its flora and fauna conservation amongst the form 4 students as well as the teachers themselves. This year programme also created a history by the launching of the programme theme song entitled ‘Laut Kita’, composed by Mr. Legacy and lyrics by En. Asmadi Abdullah and Puan Hayati Othman.

With guidance from Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) Terengganu State Education Coordinator and four trainers cum speakers, and with the help of well-trained trainers and teachers, the programme combined talks on the history and purpose of the marine park; the unique Pulau Redang ecosystems which consist of mangrove forest, coral reef, land and hill ecosystem, flora and fauna as well as outdoor games and other hands-on activities that aimed to deepen the participants’ understanding of the characteristics and functions of the park ecosystems, issues of development and challenges to the marine ecosystem conservation.

The outdoor activities included water confident activity, jungle trekking, mangrove forest exploring, mangrove replanting, snorkeling, and sea turtle sanctuary site visit. For some activities, the students were divided into 10 groups to work together to do the task given to them from the first day till the end of the programme. Such activities were group identity flag and song creation, rubbish and dead leaves and twigs fashion show (these item had been collected during the jungle trekking), mangrove species identification, mangrove replanting, coral identification and coral fish identification.

This 4 days three nights programme had been officially closed by the Selangor Director of the Department of Education, YBhg Datin Hamidah Binti Nordin.