By: Sani Firmansyah

On Saturday (31/10), the Bumi Panda team visited Bina Bangsa School, Bandung. The team came at the invitation of the school, which was holding an environmental-themed event. Through a booth filled with interesting activities, the Bumi Panda team tried to convey the message of conservation to the students and teachers there.

Visitors to the booth were able to paint their faces with images of key animals that are the focus of WWF-Indonesia's conservation, watch a movie, and play the snakes and ladders "Gajah Main ke Sungai". One 6th grade student named Raj was particularly interested in the snakes and ladders game. "Why are elephants protected?" he asked before playing the snakes and ladders. Sani Firmansyah from Bumi Panda patiently answered, "Nowadays, elephants are hunted for their ivory. Many of their homes (forests) have been destroyed because they have been converted into plantations, industries and settlements."

On that occasion, the school also showed their concern over the rampant news about forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan. They took the initiative to show their concern for the forests in Indonesia by raising funds and donating them to one of WWF-Indonesia's programs, namely MyBabyTree. MyBabyTree is a tree planting program initiated by WWF-Indonesia to reforest deforested lands which are vital areas for the sustainability of springs as one of the supports of human life.

"Thank you to the WWF-Indonesia team for coming to the school to share information about the current environmental conditions. Hopefully, the fundraising efforts made by students at Bina Bangsa School can help WWF-Indonesia's program to restore the forest and can also increase our students' awareness of the environment," said Hannie Verrita, Vice Principal of Bina Bangsa School, Bandung.