By: Sani Firmansyah and Natalia Trita Agnika

Bumi Panda, an environmental information house managed by WWF-Indonesia was again used as a place to conduct discussions about the environment. The discussion was conducted by 65 students from various campuses in Bandung on December 21, 2015. They discussed to find out the condition of the environment in Indonesia as well as to get to know WWF-Indonesia and the programs that have been and are being carried out in efforts to conserve and protect the environment.

Before the discussion, they took a tour of Bumi Panda. A team of volunteers from Bumi Panda introduced the rooms in the educational house. One of them is the Species Room, which contains information and facts about key animals protected by WWF-Indonesia. All participants were seen listening to all the information provided. On that occasion, they also received an explanation about the environmental impact that will occur if one of these key animals becomes extinct. Human life will also be affected if tigers become extinct. "Every animal has its own ecological function. If the Sumatran tiger as the top of the food chain becomes extinct, it is certain that the food chain will fall apart because the number of herbivorous animals will increase dramatically," explained Siti, a volunteer at Bumi Panda. The Bumi Panda tour continued to the Experience Room. This room explains the timeline of WWF-Indonesia's journey since 1962 to its various achievements in 2014.

After the Bumi Panda tour was over, the activity continued with a discussion session to equally know and equalize perceptions about the condition of the environment in Indonesia. "How can we as students help protect the environment in the forest?" asked Dina, a student from Unikom Bandung. Sani Firmansyah from Bumi Panda explained about the various efforts that can be made to protect the environment in the forest. One of them is through an environmentally friendly lifestyle by reducing the use of paper and tissue. "So far, we don't realize that if we are not wise in choosing and using paper and plastic, animals in the forest will lose trees as their home," explained Sani.

The discussion continued with an explanation of palm oil-based products that are often used in everyday life. Palm oil is not only found in cooking oil but also in cosmetics, soap, shampoo and toothpaste made from palm oil. The increasing demand for palm oil means that more and more forests are being converted into oil palm plantations. "That's why we must also be wise in consuming palm oil-based products," Sani added. Other environmentally friendly lifestyles include minimizing the use of plastic bags, bringing your own shopping bags, and using electricity wisely.

The discussion session also introduced one of WWF-Indonesia's campaigns, namely #BeliYangBaik. This campaign aims to invite the public to be able to know and start using products that have been labeled with environmentally friendly certifications, such as RSPO, FSC, MSC, and ASC. Through this discussion, it is hoped that students can start an environmentally friendly lifestyle and then be able to spread it to the wider community.