KOTA KINABALU: A two-day event on “Wildlife Conservation and Awareness, nurture from young” was held on May 25 and 26.
It was organized by Pusat Perkembangan Minda Bijak, the Association of ex-Students of La Salle and Sacred Heart, Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre and Danau Girang Field Centre.
During the event three heavyweight speakers presented their views. They were Dr. Wong Siew Te, our Malaysia “Papa bear”, Founder and CEO of Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, Sandakan, Dr. Benoit Goossens, Director of Danau Girang Field Centre, Kinabatangan, a research & training centre on tropical biodiversity managed by Cardiff University & Sabah Wildlife Department and Dr. Rafiq Idris, an Economist, a senior lecturer at Faculty of Business, Economics & Accountancy, University Malaysia Sabah who is also the Chairman of Sabah Economic and Education Society.
The talk centred on “Why Protection of Wildlife is important from Economic Perspective, Wildlife Conservation for Sun Bear and wildlife conservation in Sabah”.
Besides the wildlife conservation presentations and exhibition booths, robotics presentation and art gallery, there was also a colouring competition.
They were 100 participants in the colouring competition and 50 students participated in the mental arithmetic competition. The competitions were opened to children aged between 5 to 18.
The objective of the event was to stimulate student interests in arts and mathematics while increasing awareness on the importance of wild life conservation.
According to Annie Shin, ‘the theme for the event is wildlife conservation and awareness, nurture from young. As we know children are well known for their curiosity at almost everything new and unique, and their love for wildlife and nature should be shaped and nurtured starting from a very young age.’
According to Dr Rafiq Idris, ‘it is important to educate and increase wildlife conservation awareness and its importance to the economy on children. Effort on this should be intensified.’-pr/BNN
