By: Kamelia Putri Utami (Volunteer Panda Mobile)

Panda Mobile in collaboration with PT Bureau Veritas Indonesia (BVI) organized an event with the theme "Zero Tolerance for the Illegal Wildlife Trade" at Muara Angke Wildlife Sanctuary, Pantai Indah Kapuk. The event, which took place on Saturday (28/05), invited participants from PT BVI consisting of employees and their families to care more about the environment. They were introduced to water, birds and primates, as well as mangrove ecosystems.

Primayunta as Supporter Engangement Coordinator of Panda Mobile opened the event by introducing Panda Mobile, WWF-Indonesia's six-wheeled educational truck. Furthermore, Ida Harwati as Section Head of Region III BKSDA (Natural Resources Conservation Center) explained the conditions in Muara Angke Wildlife Sanctuary and what animals can be found there.

Participants were then divided into three groups. Each group had to visit the posts that had been provided. At the posts, there were Panda Mobile volunteers who helped explain the material. At the Aquatic Post, for example, participants were given simple knowledge about aquatic ecosystems and how to know good water to drink. They were also able to find out what microorganisms were in the water samples that the participants had brought from home. The participants were very enthusiastic and took turns to examine the water samples they brought through the microscope provided by Panda Mobile.

At the Mangrove Post, Panda Mobile volunteers explained about the mangrove ecosystem, the function of mangrove plants and the benefits for the lives of living things around it. One of the posts that attracted the attention of participants, especially children, was the Bird and Primate Animal Post. In this post, participants can see and know what animals live in Muara Angke Wildlife Sanctuary and their role in the environment. Children seemed very interested in seeing birds from a distance using binoculars.

After visiting the three posts and resting, the event continued with a talk show with WWF-Indonesia's Wildlife Crime Team, which presented speakers Novi Hardianto and Bogo. In this talk show, participants gained knowledge about illegal wildlife trade and learned from the Wildlife Crime Team how difficult it is to struggle as a wildlife conservationist. The participants were very excited and enthusiastic about the information shared. Various questions were also asked to the speakers.

During the talk show, children were invited to visit the Panda Mobile truck. They did coloring activities and read books in the library. The event ended with a simple quiz about the activities that have been carried out as well as knowledge from the material that has been given by volunteers Panda Mobile and Wildlife Crime Team WWF-Indonesia. After that, PT Bureau Veritas Indonesia represented by Lontung Simamora gave a symbolic donation to WWF-Indonesia represented by Primayunta.