By: Andriani V. Tobing

Marine Buddies Surabaya, together with M Radio 98.8 FM Surabaya, are back again with their second smart friendship action. The saying goes, don't know, don't love. Therefore, Marine Buddies Surabaya invites the public to get to know about marine conservation areas as well as about the latest application, Marine Buddies.

This event aims to provide new knowledge to recognize, visit and monitor Marine Protected Areas in Indonesia. Not only marine areas but also protected areas are also raised in this action, one of which is the Wonorejo Surabaya mangrove forest area which has become a hot topic lately.

"The condition of the Wonorejo Mangrove forest is experiencing complex problems where many houses are built by people who do not understand the boundaries of the area that have been determined in the regulations," said Mr. Hermawan Some as the Surabaya Mangrove House Consortium and the Surabaya Zero Waste Coordinator. Not only that, if there are no friends who block the construction that will consume the mangrove plants planted there, the plants will definitely turn into stones that will be used for the construction process.

The explanation of the introduction of the Surabaya Conservation Area and its surroundings was even warmer when it was explained that the mangrove area itself has an important role in our survival, one of which is as a habitat for animals that originate from the ecosystem or migrate to the place. One of the animals in question is the Javanese Bubut bird, long-tailed monkey and mangrove cat, which are rare and difficult to find.

Mangrove plants also have other functions, such as resisting abrasion, preventing seawater intrusion, and absorbing pollutants such as heavy metals and making them into nutrients. However, the threat does not stop at land diversion, there is also garbage. If mangrove plants die, then the waste will continue to be washed away until the final disposal, namely the sea where the sea is where the hydrological cycle occurs. You can imagine if all the garbage accumulates in the sea and the marine biota is endangered and the ecosystem is disrupted.

The result? The hydrological cycle is also disrupted and this is what causes global warming and climate change. If the lifestyle itself has not changed, how about the case of the change of mangrove conservation areas into residential areas.

The second session was delivered by Mas Dwi Aryo Tjiptohandono as Marine and Fisheries Campaign Coordinator WWF-Indonesia. This session explained about Indonesian Marine Conservation and Marine Buddies Android Application. This session explained about conservation areas in marine areas that are included in marine conservation areas where not just anyone can visit. Indonesia has 165 marine conservation areas and East Java alone has 4 marine conservation areas namely Situbondo, Sidoarjo, Pasuruan, and Sumenep.

The fact of the tourists both domestic and foreign is that they only enjoy the scenery and use it in a rah-rah way. What happened? They littered anywhere without thinking the impact of it!!!! Many things are found besides littering such as poaching, mammals stranded on land and others. How to deal with these things? Is it by shouting or signaling SOS with rocks? Clearly the answer is no.

There is one way to provide a report on the condition of the marine conservation area, namely the Marine Buddies application available on Google Playstore. This application will tell you whether you are entering a marine protected area or not. If so, friends will fill in options about the conditions in the area and can report incidents of irresponsible marine activities that must be addressed immediately by the local government.

Friends can also provide ratings and reviews about the location with the hope that these results can later be raised and shown to the local government and get more attention, especially in the management section. That is why this application is used with the aim of recognizing whether the area is included in the marine conservation area category or not, visiting to see the conditions in the area, and monitoring whether there are things that are odd and need to be reported through this application. Be a good traveler, guys. We can refresh for a moment by visiting places like the beach and the sea but don't forget to check whether the place is included in the marine conservation area or not. Be a smart traveler!

After this session was completed, it was continued with a discussion and question and answer session related to the material presented. Those who actively asked and answered questions from the MC received interesting merchandise from Marine Buddies Surabaya. So, not only the speakers got gifts, the participants also (hehehee...). The conclusion from this talk show is only one, which is to be a good traveler by not leaving trash in the place you visit and increasing your sense of concern for protected areas such as mangrove forests for the sake of human survival. God created this earth and it doesn't need us but we do.

So, if we don't start changing our lifestyle in a simple way such as plastic diet and carrying a tumbler, who will? Start with yourself and then pass it on to others. Our future, our children and our grandchildren, is in our own hands.