Collaborative Action to Protect the Sea, IPB University Students Join Blue Carbon Camp on Lancang Island
Contributing to the improvement of the marine environment, students of the Marine Science and Technology Student Association (Himiteka) of IPB University established a collaborative action through the Blue Carbon Camp activity on Lancang Island, Kepulauan Seribu, Jakarta.
This activity is in collaboration with The Climate Reality Project Indonesia and the Marine Science and Technology Student Alumni Association (Haitek), as well as collaborating with local communities.
Representative of the local village, Cucun Sunarti welcomed the 38 participants who joined this real action program. In her speech, she expressed her appreciation and hope that the participants could learn a lot from the experience on Lancang Island.
Participants then continued the activity with terrain orientation, which is surrounding Lancang Island to get to know the surrounding marine ecosystem. In the evening, an intelligence session was held at the Karang Taruna Building about mangrove ecosystems and their relation to blue carbon.
Participants were also equipped with knowledge about data collection methods and divided into groups for interviews on topics such as fisheries, tourism, homestay and culinary, shipping, and village institutions and organizations.
The activity continued with an evening of intimacy between the participants and the people of Lancang Island. This moment became a place to strengthen relationships and understand the lives of local people.
The Blue Carbon Camp was closed by designing a follow-up program by participants based on the results of observations and interviews during the previous two days. President of Himiteka IPB University, Muhammad Rafi Akbar summarized the results of observations made by participants while on Lancang Island.
“Lancang Island has a vast natural mangrove forest and fishermen catch hundreds of kilograms per day. The catch is sent to other islands and the fish market in Tangerang,” he said.
Behind the clean impression, he says that there are still mangrove observation areas filled with garbage that has accumulated over the years. However, hidden behind it, the beautiful mangrove ecosystem remains intact, serving as a research haven and habitat for a variety of marine life.
“Through the Blue Carbon Camp, we hope that participants will gain new insights into marine environmental issues and blue carbon, and be able to identify effective and efficient solutions to the challenges of climate change,” he concluded. (IAAS/NRA)
