Through Fairy Tales, Himiteka IPB University Invites Children to Protect the Sea from Garbage
The Marine Science and Technology Student Association (Himiteka), Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences (FPIK) IPB University collaborated with the Kiara Foundation, Asa Conservation and the Cinta Baca Library to hold the 2023 Seaphoria Pre-Event. This activity aims to educate children to protect the sea through fairy tales and crafting entitled ‘Miko the Microplastic’.
Storytelling and Crafting Miko the Microplastic was created by Elif Ivana, founder of the Asa Conservation community. This activity is one way to introduce waste in the form of microplastics which are very dangerous for marine ecosystems.
“Storytelling and crafting for children are very important and must continue to be done regularly. Especially telling stories about environmental conditions that they will likely face in the future, such as microplastic pollution,” said Elif, author of the fairy tale Miko the Microplastic during the event at the Library. Cinta Baca, Bogor, West Java.
The participants were also introduced to the dangers of microplastics for the environment, especially for marine biota. Apart from that, the consequences of microplastics for humans are also explained, considering that humans also consume food from marine products in their cycle.
“Education about the environment, such as microplastics, is very influential in learning at an early age, because it is useful and also opens up children’s awareness of protecting the environment from small things. “My hope is that we can all continue to collaborate on activities that are positive for the environment and humans,” she continued.
At this event, the story ‘Gale and Dodon, the Sea Dwellers’ was also presented by one of the IPB University students from the Department of Marine Science and Technology (ITK). This story tells about the trapping of two friendly sea animals due to dirty sea conditions.
“This story also describes the condition of Indonesia’s seas, which are apparently polluted by a lot of rubbish buried in the sea. “As a result, this condition disrupts the lives of marine animals that live in the area,” said Naufal.
Mirandika as Chair of Himiteka IPB University emphasised that this activity aims to educate children as early as possible to respect the environment through reducing waste in the marine environment. The material provided is deliberately packaged through storytelling so that it can be well received by children.
“We really hope that the message conveyed in this story will always be embedded in the hearts and minds of children to always keep the environment clean until they grow up and then become environmental activists like all of us, namely Seaphorians, Kiara and Asarasi,” he said. (SAB/RAT/Rz) (IAAS/AMR).
