By: Sani Firmansyah (Supporter Center Officer)

May 2 is always celebrated as National Education Day. In general, education means the process of self-development of each individual to lead a better life. In line with WWF-Indonesia's vision and mission, environmental education for early childhood is very important because as the next generation, they are the ones who can continue the efforts in protecting this Earth.

In order to commemorate National Education Day, WWF-Indonesia's Earth Panda once again held an education program at an elementary school in Bandung, located at SD Cendekia Leadership School. The activity began with ice breaking and introduction of Bumi Panda team, followed by the introduction of WWF-Indonesia. "Does anyone know why WWF-Indonesia protects the Sumatran Tiger?" asked Osha, Bumi Panda's volunteer. "Because it's cute, sis! Rich doll, sis!" shouted most of the students. "Because it's 'cute', a lot of people try to hunt and keep it. In addition, (tigers) are taken for their skin, meat, and even bones to make traditional medicines," Osha explained. Because the Sumatran tiger is being hunted and its habitat is decreasing, the animal is threatened with extinction and needs to be protected.

"Sis, is there any other way to protect the forest besides planting trees?" asked Mika, a student of SD Cendekia Leadership School. The question was answered by explaining the campaign #30ClapsChallenge being promoted by WWF-Indonesia. "There is another way to protect the environment. After washing our hands, instead of using tissues, we should clap our hands 30 times to dry our hands. That way, we can all reduce the use of tissues so that animals living in the forest will be preserved because the trees as their homes will not be cut down and turned into tissues," explained Dwi, volunteer Bumi Panda.

The activity continued by watching a movie called "Quartet at the Crossroad" which explains about four umbrella animals. Through the movie, the students came to understand that if we protect the existence of these animals, the existence of the surrounding ecosystem will also be maintained. They were also invited to watch the movie "We Are Connected" which shows that the ecosystems in nature are related to the lives of people living in the city.

The Earth Panda Goes to School activity at SD Cendekia Leadership School received a positive response from the educators. "Providing information about the environment, in my opinion, is very important. By protecting the Earth through things that are very easy (to do) in the school or home environment, we are sure that we can help the WWF-Indonesia team in saving this Earth," said Ghaisani, a teacher at SD Cendekia Leadership School.