By: Hijrah Nasir

The Earth Hour celebration in Bandar Lampung is entering its third year. Various activities were carried out in the Earth Hour series by inviting the youth community and the public to get involved. The celebration of the public's commitment to support the energy-saving movement campaign was centered at the University of Lampung GSG Courtyard.

The event started in the morning (25/03/2017) by distributing reusable bags to traditional market visitors at Bambu Kuning Market in Bandar Lampung. The team consisted of WWF Indonesia, EH Bandar Lampung community, and HIMA SYLVA University of Lampung students. The Earth Hour community itself has been making and collecting tote bags from used t-shirts for a month before the Earth Hour event.

In addition to distributing reusable bags, visitors were also given education about the importance of reducing the use of plastic bags as the theme carried by the National Earth Hour community this year. The Earth Hour Bandar Lampung community expects that within the next year there will be 1,000 tote bags made and distributed to raise public awareness about the adverse effects of non-degradable plastic bags on the environment.

Interestingly this year, the Earth Hour Celebration is also coupled with the Sumatran Tiger campaign. So the activity was not only filled with earth hour celebrations, but also with talk shows and Sumatran Tiger campaign actions that were enthusiastically welcomed by the public. Before turning off the lights as a symbol of the community's commitment to the energy saving movement, the activity was filled with talk shows about Sumatran Tiger conservation efforts. The talk show was presented by four speakers, including WWF Indonesia TNBBS Project Leader Job Charles who explained about Sumatran Tiger conservation efforts in TNBBS, Lampung University engineering lecturer Anshori Djausal who is a Lampung conservation figure who also develops research on eco-roads, Representative of MUI, Ustadz Alif Ma'luf Al-Maduri who explained about MUI fatwa No. 04 of 2014 concerning the Preservation of Rare Animals to Maintain Ecosystem Balance, and the last speaker, and Iwan Mucipto, one of WWF Indonesia's consultants for ecotourism projects told about tiger conservation from the social aspect of ecology.

In his presentation, Mr. Anshori Djausal explained that the younger generation is the main spearhead in conservation efforts in the future so it is important to understand the challenges being faced and how to make efforts to save endangered animals which are invaluable cultural heritage for humans.

The event was also enlivened by community band performances, poetry readings and other art parades by Bandar Lampung art communities. The event was lively when the lights were turned off. Especially when the strains of the violin accompanied the reading of environmental-themed poetry. Those who participated in supporting Earth Hour Day activities this year were Amelia Hotel and Grand Anugerah Hotel Bandar Lampung.

As a series of Earth Hour 2017 coupled with the tiger campaign, this activity continued until March 26 morning by holding a tiger campaign action and collecting petitions related to law enforcement for tiger poachers at car free day, Gajah Roundabout which is one of the landmarks in Bandar Lampung City. The petition collection was also supported by the Lampung Police Chief. At least 300 people took part in signing the petition. Until July 2017, which is the celebration of World Tiger Day, WWF Indonesia TNBBS Project will collect 1,000 signatures to encourage the public to support law enforcement efforts for Sumatran Tiger poachers.