To increase the awareness of younger generation towards marine and its biodiversity protection, CTC conducted a socialization and education campaign for school students in Sula Islands, North Maluku. The activity, which took place on 18-22 February 2019, successfully reached 903 students in 6 schools and was supported by the USAID SEA Project.

During the five-day community outreach, CTC visited 2 elementary schools namely SDN 1 Wai Ipa dan SDN 1 Sanana, 2 junior high school namely SMPN 1 Sanana and SMPN 4 Sanana, and 2 high schools namely SMAN 1 Sanana and SMKN 2 Sanana Utara. All of these schools are located in Sanana and North Sanana Sub-Districts are the closest villages to the newly-established Sula Islands Marine Protected Area (MPA). In late 2018, the Provincial Government of North Maluku issued Governor’s Decree No. declaring 117,959.88 hectares in Sulas a a protected area, including two main islands, namely Sulabesi and Mangoli Islands.

During the outreach activity, the CTC used a variety of interactive ways to present information to students, including short movie screenings, discussions, prizes, games, and also colouring pictures of sea turtles for elementary students. Sea turtles is one of the most common charismatic marine animal that can be easily found in Sula. However, there are not yet any specific coastal areas nor policies dedicated to protect the sea turtles and their eggs in Sula.

The outreach activity was also supported by local champions Pejuang Laut (Champions of the SEA) who heled facilitate the discussion and assisted in disseminating the outreach materials of stickers and posters to their respective community members. With the slogan of “Lestari Lautku Banyak Ikanku” (Protecting Our Sea Resulting More Fish), this socialization and education will hopefully increase the general awareness and knowledge that leads to more tangible behavioral change towards marine conservation and sustainable fisheries in the future.