Coral reef game for schools launched
JAKARTA (JP): In a bid to raise awareness of the nation's rich sea resources, the Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program (Coremap) has launched an educational game to inform children about the preservation of coral reefs.
The board game called Aku & Terumbu Karangku (Me and My Coral Reefs) consists of drawings of colorful sea creatures and their names and other aspects of sea protection and destruction.
"The game kit will be distributed to elementary schools located in several coastal areas in four provinces where part of their coral reefs have been damaged," said Douglas Storey, Coremap Public Awareness team leader from John Hopkins University's Center for Communication Program.
The game will be distributed free in schools in the Lingga area in Riau, Makassar and Selayar in South Sulawesi, Padaido Island in Irian Jaya and Sika in East Nusa Tenggara.
Speaking after the project's launching at Sea World in Ancol, North Jakarta, Storey said the sea creatures described in the game are those found in the country's seas and will help educate the children about their importance in an interesting way.
"Politically it's too difficult and takes too long if such material is included in the curriculum so we can do it through the games," Storey added.
A total of 4,500 free kits have been prepared for distribution to hundreds of elementary schools in the designated areas.
On Thursday elementary pupils from SD Muara Karang in Pluit, North Jakarta, were taken to Sea World to see the game demonstrated.
"Tripang is good for soup!" one of the children shouted as she guessed the name of one of the fish in the game.
"I'm a creature with no head but I have eyes and an antenna...I have two hands that can clamp my enemy. What am I?" the game tutor asked the children.
"A crab!" a pupil quickly answered, followed by the group's cheers of congratulation.
Through the game the children also learnt to recognize various chemical substances which can kill coral reefs and destroy sea habitat such as potassium and fish bombs.
Indonesia is home to an estimated 85,000 square kilometers of coral reefs, 40 percent of which are believed to be badly damaged and only some 6.5 percent of which are in excellent condition.
"We also trained teachers from those provinces about this and later they can teach others back home," Coremap's Ita Mucharam said.
"Actually we have no problem in using the game since Bahasa Indonesia is a common language in Irian Jaya...We have some 230 different ethnic languages and Bahasa is the common tool to communicate. We will use the local names for the creatures, though," Yance Rumbino, an elementary teacher from Padaido island district in Irian Jaya told The Jakarta Post.
The government has set up a joint board to monitor the condition of coral reefs with the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI), a number of non governmental organizations as well as foreign donors such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank.
Coremap, established in 1995, has been running its program in 10 provinces where potentially valuable marine heritage is located.
Interested parties can visit their website www.coremap.org for further information about the program. (edt)