By: Rafselia Novalina Editor: Afdhal Mahyuddin

This morning (August 8, 2015) - It looks different in Muaro Bio Village, Kampar Regency, Riau. The fresh faces of elementary and middle school children, as well as the enthusiasm of the organizing committee of Global Tiger Day (GTD) 2015. The children's footsteps and innocent faces were curious to see so many people wearing red shirts. Yep, today tigerheart Riau, a group of Riau students, artists, NGO workers, and MAPALA (Student Nature Lovers), celebrated Global Tiger Day (GTD) in a different way.

What used to be a street campaign in the city to save Sumatran tigers is now celebrated with villagers in one of the Sumatran tiger habitat areas in the Rimbang Baling Landscape. This year's Global Tiger Day (GTD) celebration is also special because it is held simultaneously in Padang, Palembang, Medan, Jambi, Jakarta and Purwokerto. The theme for this year's Global Tiger Day (GTD) is ACT NOW! KEEP THE FOREST FOR TIGERS! This year's GTD 2015 theme inspired tigerheart Riau colleagues to carry out activities with village communities.

The goal of GTD is very simple, which aims to keep the community to protect their forest for the benefit of the balance of ecosystems that live in the landscape. They are at the forefront of the habitat of exotic species that are only left in Sumatra for our beloved country. The big celebration to touch the hearts of the villagers was done through the children who attend SDN 012 Muaro Bio. Tigerheart Riau colleagues created a play and learn activity with the children about the environment. There are four learning materials for Environmental Education (EE) through games that have been prepared by fellow facilitators and organizers, namely: (a). Tiger and its habitat, (b). Food chain in the forest, (c). River and its biota and (d). Environmental snakes and ladders game.

The four materials aim to sew the lines of the message to be conveyed to children, namely to protect the forest and nature, so that the tiger and the ecosystem in it are preserved. In the play and learning activities, the colleagues who served as facilitators were able to work together to sew the message, so that the children were able to absorb and capture the information provided.

In order to encourage the children to play and learn, the facilitators prepared special chants and claps to encourage the children. There was a "clap of encouragement" and a chant that read, "The Striped One, Be Loved! The Striped One, Be Loved Dong! Those with stripes must be loved!" The end of the learning and playing activities with the children was to reflect on the learning materials obtained through the media of paintings, poems, essays, and stories.

The children and tigerheart Riau colleagues were eager to help each other so that the reflection contained messages to save the forest and its habitat. The reflections will be presented by the children in front of the village community during the evening community viewing. Water Reserves and Sumatran Tiger Conservation Water for All That evening, the children, villagers and organizers eagerly gathered in the field to see the children's actions in voicing the results of their reflections and watching a documentary entitled, "Water for All".

According to Sunarto, (Wildlife Specialist, WWF Indonesia) 70% of water in Indonesia is mostly polluted due to human activities. In some places humans play an important role in protecting the river, such as in the Subayang River. Sunarto continued, "People protect the river through their local wisdom, such as lubuk larangan. This could be a community activity in protecting the river that can be used as an example for other communities in protecting the river. In addition, for the people there, the Subayang River is the lifeblood of their lives, especially Muara Bio Village.

The action of the children one by one told the results of their reflections in front of the community and aimed to urge the village community to always protect the forest and the ecosystem in it. One of the interesting results of the child's reflection was delivered by Farel, a 2nd grade elementary school student, "We will love animals and trees. We must love animals and trees. We must not cut down forests and kill animals because if we do, the food for tigers will run out." Such messages delivered by children to adults, hopefully, will touch the hearts and minds of adults to make an effort to listen and do something to protect this nature. Because protecting nature cannot be done by a group of people or institutions, but it is the work of everyone and collaboration from various parties.

It is our hope that this GTD celebration is the first step for all of us to touch all levels of people to move and work to protect the environment. Children are one of the chess pieces that will help us in making efforts to save tigers and the environment. Doesn't the morning piece that started this GTD activity have a good impact on the hope of saving Sumatran tigers and nature? See, there are many people who can be invited to move together to save tigers and the environment. Conservation organizations such as WWF (World Wildlife Fund), FHK (Forum Harimau Kita), WCS-IP (Wildlife Conservation Society - Indonesia Program), ZSL (Zoological Society of London), FFI (Fauna Flora International), YLI (Yayasan Leuser Indonesia), and FKL (Leuser Conservation Forum) with the support of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry can move through strengthening the tigerheart volunteer network and volunteers from other communities to save Sumatran tigers and nature by touching all levels of society. Hopefully, this bright morning will not stop here.