KUMBANG EARTH HOUR INDONESIA 2019: LET US TAKE CARE OF THE EARTH!
By: Bella Pitaloka
The Earth Hour Learning Gathering also known as KUMBANG was held again. This year, the 7th KUMBANG was held on 10-14 January 2019. It was located at Bumi Katulampa Bogor Resort, West Java. Was attended by representatives of Earth Hour and Marine Buddies community members in 30 Indonesian cities, from Aceh to Papua. KUMBANG purposed to increasing the participants knowledge about environmental issues, becoming a platform for friendship, also as a discussion forum for community representatives from different regions.
Earth Hour was created to encourage people to take action to reduce the impact of global warming. Nowadays, this movement encouraged the establishment of communities in every city formed by WWF-Indonesia volunteers, called Champions. In public perception, this movement is similiar with energy saving. This is because the Earth Hour movement is known as the activity of turning off unused lights and electronic equipments for 60 minutes. This movement aimed to give the earth a moment to rest from human activities. More than that, Earth Hour inviting the Indonesian people to work together in order to protect the existing biodiversity and adopt an environmentally friendly lifestyle.
KUMBANG Earth Hour 2019 presented many speakers who delivered various kinds of material. Rizal Malik as CEO of WWF-Indonesia provided material about SDG's and the Strategic Role of the Young Generation. The next speaker was Christina Eghenter as Deputy Director for Social Development WWF-Indonesia giving a presentation about Indonesian Wise Food. Several other materials include presentations on campaigns to stop the trade in protected wild animals, campaigns against plastic waste pollution, landscape and seascape-based conservation, education for sustainable development, mangrove and coastal conservation, and several other materials. This activity also had the opportunity to present Johan Budi Sapto Pribowo (Special Communication Staff for President of the Indonesian Republic), Saut Situmorang (Leader of the Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission), Dedi Wibowo (Indonesian Scout Movement Activist), and Dr. Bima Arya Sugiarto (Mayor of Bogor).
In this activity we had planned actions for the future. The first action is Coastal Waste Data Collection (PELESIR). This waste data collection program is based on data from the Indonesian Plastic Industry Association and the Central Statistics Agency which shows that around 3.2 million tons of plastic waste in Indonesia is thrown into the sea. Therefore, this action will focus on several areas that have coastal areas. The amount of plastic waste in Indonesia thrown into the sea was 3.2 million tons in 2018. Therefore, this action will focus on implementing coastal areas.
The second action, Earth Hour and Marine Buddies communities will carry out reforestation on sea and river coasts by cultivating mangroves. This action, which carries the tagline #GreenSea, aims to reduce abrasion and erosion in coastal areas.
It is hoped that these actions can create a place to live and become a source of food for various animals on the coast. Waste data collection can be carried out every year in order to increase public awareness as well as provide evaluation material for the relevant areas.
Not only are you members of the Earth Hour and Marine Buddies communities, you can also contribute to repairing environmental damage through small things such as starting an environmentally friendly lifestyle and starting to consume ecolabeled products. Another thing that can also be done is to participate in action for the earth by turning off the lights on March 30 2019 at 20.30 to 21.30 local time, with the action of turning off the lights and other simple actions for the good of the environment, then we can participate in helping the earth and maintain the existing ecosystem. #TogetherPossible to #Connect2Earth!