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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program (COREMAP)
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 Communication team leader from Johns Hopkins University Center for Communications Programs. The game will be distributed free in schools in the Lingga area in Riau, ‘Makkassar and Selayer in South Sulawesi, Padaido Islands in Irian Jaya and the Sika District of Flores in East Nusa Tenggarra. 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 difficult and would take too long to revise the national curriculum to include new coral reef content, so we can do it informally through the games,” Storey added. A total of 4500 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 onto 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 learned 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 75,000 square kilometers of coral reefs, 70% of which are believed to be in poor to fair condition and only some 6 percent of which are in excellent condition. “We also trained teachers from those provinces about this so that later they can teach others back home,” said COREMAP's social marketing specialist, Ita Mucharam, Social Marketing Specialist from JHU/CCP. “We have no problem 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 conditions of coral reef through the COREMAP project under the management lead of LIPI, donored by ADB, World Bank, and AUSAID. For more information contact: Edson Whitney at Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, USA. Tel: 410 659-6287; Fax: 410 659-6266 or Douglas Storey. WEB SITE: http://www.jhuccp.org/. |
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In a bold bid to raise awareness of the nation's rich resources, the Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program (COREMAP) has launched an educational game to inform children about the preservation of coral reefs.
© 2005 The Johns Hopkins University. All rights reserved.