By: Nur Arinta

On August 13, 2017, WWF-Indonesia in collaboration with the Tebo District Government, and supported by PT Alam Bukit Tigapuluh (ABT) and PT Rimba Lestari Utama (RLU) organized a Conservation Stage entitled Awareness and Education. The conservation stage was held in Balai Rajo Village, VII Koto Ilir District, Tebo Regency, Jambi. The event was held to celebrate nature conservation from the perspective of the people living around the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park area through the arts.

The Conservation Stage was officially opened by the Regent of Tebo, Sukandar. Before opening the event, Sukandar gave his speech to the people of Tebo who attended. "We must protect the forest, because the forest is very important for our lives. If the forest is not maintained and damaged due to encroachment, we can feel the consequences ourselves, one of the villages that usually never floods this year felt flooded because of the forest damage that occurred. Forest preservation is not only the responsibility of the government, but it is the responsibility of all of us," said Sukandar in his speech.

In this activity, several competitions were held for elementary school children in villages around the Bukit Tigapuluh Landscape area, and competed for the rotating trophy of the Regent of Tebo Regency. These competitions include puppet stage competitions, coloring competitions, drawing competitions, and writing competitions that tell stories about the roots of problems and solutions to save the earth, especially the Bukit Tigapuluh Landscape.

Participants of the competition included SDN 05 Balai Rajo Village, SDN 200 Sungai Karang Village, SDN 88 Suo-suo Village, SDN 43 Malako Intan Village, SDN 225 Suko Makmur Village, and SDN 236 Kelumpang Jaya Village. The event was also attended by the Regent of Tebo Regency, Sub-District Heads from five sub-districts, 12 village heads, and there were around 400 people who participated in enlivening the Conservation Stage.

"This event is a form of community awareness, especially at the student level around Bukit Tigapuluh National Park. Through this event, it is hoped that the community will realize that conservation areas are actually to support the welfare of the people around the area, and the number of encroachments that occur in the Bukit Tigapuluh Landscape can decrease," said Syamsuardi, Awareness and Education Specialist - WWF-Indonesia Jambi Regional. Syamsuardi also added that this conservation stage is a form of implementation of education and awareness that aims to provide knowledge about saving the environment by the community.

Not only by the local community, the Conservation Stage was also enlivened by Dimas Sufi, a young musician who is developing his career and has just released an album entitled "Merah". He admitted that this was his first time visiting Jambi, especially Tebo. Dimas Sufi opened his performance with the song "Bendera" popularized by the band Coklat in order to inspire the spirit of the people of Tebo to save the surrounding forests. He also performed one of the singles from the album "Merah" entitled "Kopi", which is a single supported by WWF.

In the middle of his performance, Dimas Sufi gave a quiz to the children of Tebo. Dimas gave questions about the forest, considering they live near the forest area. Children who can answer the questions are given prizes in the form of pins and sticky pictures. The Tebo children looked very enthusiastic and happy with the quiz given by Dimas. Not only giving quizzes, Dimas also conveyed the message of the importance of preserving forests and the environment. The people who live around the forest area are the spearhead and have a very important role in preserving the forest.

There was one thing that intrigued and caught the attention of Dimas Sufi and his friends when they arrived at the venue. Throughout the venue, they found no trash bins provided. Dimas Sufi also "flicked" the local government and the people of Tebo by asking where he could throw the trash, because he did not find trash bins in every corner of the place. Dimas also conveyed the importance of trash bins and community-based waste management. The input and message was well received by the local government.

In addition to entertaining the people of Tebo, Dimas Sufi and his friends had the opportunity to explore the nature of Jambi. After the event was over, they were invited to explore the Batanghari river. Dimas Sufi and friends were surprised by a herd of long-tailed monkeys who were looking for food on the riverbank. In addition to seeing monkeys, they also saw langurs who were busy hanging on trees in the riverbank forest. Seeing this, Dimas and his friends increasingly understand the importance of forests as a life support and a home for many animals.

"I am very happy to be able to visit and enliven the Conservation Stage in Tebo. From here, my friends and I thought that we don't need to talk or wonder about how the world will be in five or ten years, if we don't start caring from now on," Dimas Sufi said.

The preservation of forests and all the animals that live in them is a shared responsibility. Not only the government, or the people who live around the forest, but it is also the responsibility of all of us. Because if the forest is damaged, the balance of the ecosystem will be disturbed and unbalanced. And whether we realize it or not, the impact will also come back to ourselves. Let's take care of our forests together!