Activities Participated By Our School in 2008

1. World Wetlands Day, 2.02.2008

2. World Forest Day, 21.03.2008

3. World Water Day,22.03.2008
WATER FOR LIFE
Malaysia is a country rich with rivers and there is abundant rainfall – we receive about 2500 to 5000mm of rainfall annually. To date, there are 189 river basins with some 1,800 rivers all over the country. And these rivers are the source of 97% of our drinking water. We find ourselves facing water shortages, water supply disruptions and even water rationing during times of drought. Unfortunately we have not been taking care of our rivers and they have become polluted with solid waste and sewage being the main culprits. Without proper river management, sooner or later, our drinking source will become scarce and finally disappear.

Global Environment Centre, a non-profit environment NGO has initiated a River Ranger Programme and our school has been chosen to be the pilot school in Malaysia with funding assistant from DANIDA amounting RM 10 thousand. (Danish International Development Agency) through River Care Fund under GEC in 2005.

The aim of this River Ranger Programme is to create awareness and educate schools and students on river issues and the importance of managing our rivers. In return , it is hoped that students will get a better understanding of the river systems and care and appreciate the value of a river.

28 students of equal gender and 4 teachers were selected and trained by the officers of Global Environment Centre according to the programme’s module on how to be a River Ranger. Using a training module , the students covered topics on river and river issues , river basin problems , integrated river basin management and hands on training. In the hands-on training , the students will be taken to the rivers to carry out water quality testing using physical , chemical and biological monitoring using living animals in the river. The students are taught to carry out river mapping and river health check activities to assess the health of the river.

Upon completing the modules , they would be given a certificate of recognition and they would be a fully certified as River Ranger to carry out river monitoring in their area. Our school also were the first one to set up a ‘Guru River Ranger’ group which consists of trained River Ranger teachers whom now have trained other school groups whom are interested in starting their own River Ranger group. To date , we have helped to train over 50 schools in Kedah State and about 200 teachers.

A One Stop River Education Centre has been established by the school with help of many partners. The centre is being used as a resource centre for information materials related to rivers and water management. It was a really a successful project.
Students of our school are taught to love their rivers as an awareness programme created by the school to teach them to preserve the environment. Through this programme we hope that the students when they grew up will be more committed in protecting their surroundings.

Our participation in this project started as a simple geography, science and moral lesson but somehow the focus got shifted to rivers. We noticed the student’s interest in their environmental issue and decided to introduce the programme instead. We made a compulsory for the pupils and teachers to be involved in the programme. We conducted water samplings and carried out checks on micro-organism found in the river to understand it eco-system. As a result of this , the school had adopted Sungai Telok Nyior as part of the projects and we managed to get funding from Global Environment Centre ( RM 2000 ) , Scout Association of Malaysia (RM 2000 ) , Drainage and Irrigation Department ( RM 60 000 ) and also the State Education Department for our activities. The money has been used for 3 river camps and buying equipments for water monitoring and also to built a new toilet near the river. The activities at the river had also created awareness among the residents and factories located nearby. The river is less polluted now compared with 2 years ago.
Through the ‘Love Our River Campaign’ by the Drainage and Irrigation Department , the school has benefited a lot from funding provided for training the students , conducting regular water monitoring and also many river camps since 2006 till today.
The Drainage and Irrigation Department has started promoting River Ranger programme in all states in Malaysia and now some 200 schools have benefited from this project. Some community based groups also have benefited from our project and more than 10 of these groups have started River Ranger programmes in their residential area.
Since 2005 , we have been participating in the World Water Monitoring Day from 18 September to 18 October every year. And for 2008, our school was the host for the launch of World Water Monitoring Day for Malaysia. We have received 300 free water monitoring kits worth USD 6,000 from Water Environment Federation of USA and International Water Association.The water kits have been distributed to some 100 schools and 30 scout groups in Malaysia . This event is part of a month-long monitoring and provides opportunities to educate the students about the importance of water quality monitoring and personal stewardship of our water resources. More students are leading the efforts to protect their local environment and they would have better understanding of the interdependence of the importance of natural resources in a larger global setting. The monitoring activities would help students to gain first-hand experience in assessing the health of their local watershed in which they live, how watersheds work and how to protect their waters which have downstream impact.
Our River Ranger Programme has managed to grab the media’s attention where they have covered numerous practical training sessions that were carried out with schools and communities. It highlights the fact that the programme is seen as an import education tool for people to learn about river conservation. Two of our River Rangers have presented papers on Community Participation in River Management - A Knowledge Sharing in 2006.The teacher in charge for this project, Kalaimani Supramaniam has presented papers twice on Bio-Indicators in Environments Education Programmes in 2006. He was also been invited by ENO Environment Online based in Finland to give talk and presentation on Water Monitoring Activities and River Watch Programmes during their International ENO Scifest in Joenssu University in April 2008 which were attended by more that 50 countries from every corner of the world. And later , Life-Link Friendship School based in Sweden has also invited Kalaimani Supramaniam to give a talk on Water for Life during the Life-Link XIV International Youth & Schools Conference from 10 to 17 August 2008 at Rosario San Lorenzo , Argentina. The best education practice of our active rural school in Northern part of Malaysia with more than 500 students and 50 teachers were discussed in details and shared among the participating countries
Our school has been invited by Life-Link to join UNESCO Associated Schools Program and UNESCO/UN Decade campaigns on Culture of Peace, Water for Life and Education for Sustainable Development for 2009 to 2011.
All our school activities are contributing for the UN decades 2005-2014 on ESD, Education for Sustainability Development and UN decades 2005 -2015 on Water for Life and providing access to water for achieving the 7th goal of Millennium Development Goals which is agreed by all 191 United Nations Member States at the Millennium Summit in 2000. (Ensuring environmental sustainability). The International Decade for Water for Life was adopted by United Nations General Assembly at its 78th plenary meeting on 23 December 2003. World Water Day on 22 March 2005 marks the start of the International Decade for Action on Water for Life.
Our school will try to compete in Stockholm Junior Water Prize which is organized by Sweden and we hope that we would be in the 10 finalist in year 2009.
Our school is always more than happy to train anyone who would like to save our rivers and in 2006 , some 50 National Service Trainees were trained by our school River Rangers. The school is also willing to share its knowledge to preserve the environment and we are willing to help others to set up their own centre to carry out the activities.
We hope our projects and programmes would give everyone a better understanding about the importance of our rivers and appreciate the value of them. Only then our rivers would be taken care of and our source of water be safeguarded for the future generations. We are happy to introduce the concept of ‘Civic Science’ as a way to approach school students and community participation in river management and also as the protectors of our rivers. It means giving the people the awareness , knowledge and most importantly is the skill to take action on environmental matters. Students regardless of race, gender and religion have benefited from our project and we are proud that our project is recognised globally.

GENERAL INFORMATION.
We have partnered with many people and organization in making this project a successful one including the State Education Department , State Drainage and Irrigation Department , District Education Office , Scouts Association of Malaysia , Global Environment Centre , DANIDA , School Nature Clubs from primary , secondary and college levels. More than 300 teachers, 14,000 students, 120 schools and local community have benefited from our project since 2006. Our main funding for the project comes from Global Environment Centre, Drainage and Irrigation Department and our participating students itself. About 60 ,000 Malaysian Ringgit ( funded by DID ) have been spend on this projects which includes traveling , accommodation for students and teachers , river camps , water monitoring kits , cleaning up the river and some other things. GEC through DANIDA also funded 10 000 Malaysian Ringgit.

4. World Meterology Day,23.03.2008

5. Earth Day,22.04.2008

6.International Biodiversity Day,22.05.2008

7.United Nation Cyberschoolbus Video Conferencingm,28.05.2008

8. World Environment Day,5.06.2008

SMK Teloi Kanan School
Kuala Ketil, Kedah (Malaysia)
Students from SMK Teloi Kanan in Kuala Ketil have been spending school holidays planting mangrove seedlings and seeds to save one of the few remaining mangrove sites along the west coast of Malaysia. Mangroves help protect nearby coastal villages from storms and tsunami. They also provide an important habitat for crab, fish, and prawns which can become an source of income for local residents. Students help prepare nursery beds (see photo below) and transport seedlings to the planting site in the mangrove. It takes the students about 2 hours to plant 1,000 seedlings and 500 seeds.
The long-term plan is to develop the area into a bird sanctuary. These efforts are also part of the students' tree planting campaign which aims to plant thousands of trees each year. By the end of 2007, students had succeeded in planting 40,000 mangrove seedlings in different sites around Malaysia. This year, the SMK Teloi Kanan school is engaged in mobilising students throughout Malaysia to plant one million trees by the end of 2008 . The school is also supporting the 100 million tree campaign by 2017 with the help of ENO Finland. This tree planting campaign will no doubt contribute a great deal to reducing greenhouse gases.

9. ENO Tree Planting Day,22.10.2008

10. Clean Up The World,16-19,10.2008

11. International Peace Day,21.10.2008

12. World Water Monitoring Day,18,09-18.10.2008

13. 1st Asian Eco Camp,Jeonju,KOrea,16-21.10.2008

1. Project Name
Tree Planting – Conservation Through Environmental Education

2. Project Location
Kuala Gula, Perak, Malaysia.

Kuala Gula is a small fishing village located in the coastal part of Perak, Malaysia. It is about 50 km to the west of Taiping and lies on the East Asia-Australasian Flyway along which migratory shorebirds fly between northern breeding grounds and wintering areas in the south.
Kuala Gula also forms part of Matang Forest Reserve consisting of vast stretches of tidal mud flats and mangroves. The village lies at the northern end of the Matang Forest Reserve. Nearby is Pulau Kalumpang, an island within the forest reserve .
Kuala Gula is not only being famous for its resident as well as migrant birds life, it is also recognized as a good fishing village supplying fresh cockles, crabs, shrimps and fishes. The Sungai Gula proves to be one of the good fishing spot among anglers form parts of the state.
3. Project Duration
The project was started in December 2006 when we participated in the Billion Tree Campaign – Plant For The Planet. Till today we are still continuing the project.
4. Rational About The Project.
Tree planting is important for us. Firstly, it reminds us of the nature and the importance of environmental protection. Secondly, it is a symbol for the international co-operation. The mangrove seedlings were planted in a 30ha area in Telok Rubiah, which is the designated site for the mangrove rehabilitation project. Our school envisions that the rehabilitation of the degraded mangrove area through planting and increased protection will improve the surrounding mangrove habitat. It is also to save one of the remaining mangrove sites along the west coast of Malaysia. Mangroves are the only defense against sea storms and tsunami and without them, coastal villages such as Kuala Gula will be left defenseless and at the mercy of nature. Following the tsunami in 2004, there has been an urgent need to address the lack of mangrove protection.
Students were taught about the importance of Mangroves and its surrounding habitats. They have learned about the importance of mangroves in their Science and Geography lessons .Our students learned and come to know more about mangroves which are important breeding ground for our fishes, prawns, crabs and crustaceans, which are our major source of food. Trees from mangroves can be used for timber, construction material, firewood and charcoal. Mangroves also produce non-timber products such as herbs, which contain medicinal value .Students, learned that, mangroves act as a windbreaker against strong wind and waves, thus providing natural coastline protection.
Mangroves also prevent erosion; act as sinks for nutrients and sediments as its vegetation can absorb them. The nutrients remain in the mangrove where it will support other organism growth. Mangroves support a diversity of wildlife of which many are endemic or threatened and rich vegetation, some of which has great medicinal values and are yet to be discovered. Flora is not easy to survive in the mangrove environment and many species have developed adaptations to overcome them.
Our tree planting area, Kuala Gula harbours a large variety of wildlife species – insects (fireflies), crustaceans, mammals, reptiles, resident and migratory birds ranging to 150.Our students learned that trees alter the environment in which we live by moderating climate, improving air quality, conserving water, and harbouring wildlife. Climate control is obtained by moderating the effects of sun, wind, and rain. Radiant energy from the sun is absorbed or deflected by leaves on deciduous trees. We are cooler when we stand in the shade of trees and are not exposed to direct sunlight.
5. Project Implementation.
Our school students have been spending weekends and school holidays planting mangrove seedlings and seeds to save one of the remaining mangrove sites along the west coast of Malaysia. Students help prepare nursery beds and transport seedlings to the planting site. It takes 40 of us to plant 1,000 seedlings and 5000 seeds in 2 hours. It was the first step towards rehabilitation. Many schools joined us on weekends to plant mangrove. We managed to get some 20 over schools to join us to plant more mangroves. Many camps on mangrove ecology were conducted by our school and our school children’s act as facilitators and they explain about the mangrove ecology, the importance to protect it and also why they need to plant more mangroves.
6. Project Achievement.
Later it turned out to be a bigger involvement by the school and the students and till today we have succeeded in planting 150 thousand mangrove seedlings in different sites around Malaysia with the help of District Education Office, State Education Department, Friends of Mangroves Kuala Gula , Drainage and Irrigation Department , Scout Association of Malaysia and Global Environment Centre.
Our school started a learning centre called Mangrove Ecology Education Centre in 2007 with the help of State Education Department. The centre acts as a learning place for students, communities and also for tourist that come to visit the mangrove area. They learn about the whole Mangrove Ecology here. It was a big success for us. We have contributed some learning knowledge about mangrove to the community, students and also visitors.
Later we started another project called Mangrove Seedlings Nursery Project with the local fisherman’s and Friends of Mangrove Forest. We currently have some 50 thousand seedlings ready to be planted.
Our school was invited by United Nation Cyberschoolbus to take part in a global videoconferencing on 28th May 2008 in conjunction with World Environment Day. Four schools from different parts of the world were selected. They are from Canada, America, Australia and our school representing Malaysia. We talked about tree planting activities which would reduce greenhouse gaseous. The more trees that we plant in our mother earth the more greenhouse gaseous would be reduced.
Two students from our school would represent School Nature Club under Malaysian Nature Society for the 1st Asian Eco Camp in Joenju, Korea from 16 to 21 September and they will present our tree planting projects. It is a big achievement for our school because this is the first time our school students will be traveling abroad for a good cause for mother earth.
7. Contributions.
More than 2000 primary and secondary school children’s and 200 teachers have benefited from our learning centre. We have planted about 150 thousand mangroves .Our school children acted as if they are really university professors when explaining about mangrove ecology and we have won the most active club in our State for year 2008.
Our school teacher was invited by ENO Environment Finland to share the importance of tree planting activities among 50 countries that have participated in International ENO Scifest at Joenssu University, Finland in April 2008. Later he was also invited to share tree planting activities at 14th International Life-Link Friendship-School Conference at Rosario City, Argentina in August 2008 as a lecturer. He was also invited to present papers and lectures at many environmental education camps for students and teachers throughout Malaysia.
Through this project, our students have involved in conservation projects and helped them in their daily lives and also part of learning based activities for Geography and Science lessons.
We have launched a campaign with the help of ENO School Network Worldwide with more than 1500 schools from 120 countries participating. The campaign is called 100 Million Trees by 2017 and was officially launched at our school on 5th June 2008 in conjunction with World Environment Day. One million trees will be planted in 2008 and then more year by year. Tree planting will accelerate in 2011, the International Year of Forests.
Our tree planting project is a partnership project between our school , Baling District Education Office , Kedah State Education Office , Kedah State Drainage and Irrigation Department , Scouts Association of Malaysia, Friends of Mangrove Forest Kuala Gula , Global Environment Centre , ENO Environment Online Finland , Malaysian Nature Society , Roots & Shoots ( a member of the school nature club ) , Green Wave ( a member of the school nature club ) and Life-Link Friendship-School Sweden.
By planting trees, we return to a more natural, less artificial environment. Birds and other wildlife are attracted to the area. The natural cycles of plant growth, reproduction, and decomposition are again present, both above and below ground. Natural harmony is restored to the urban environment.
8. Future Plans.
We would be starting another Mangrove Ecology Centre in the State of Kedah. Our tree planting project is based on learning by doing. Boys and girls were given equal opportunity to participate with the local community and it is supported globally through our tree planting network. Students use internet to get information about tree planting worldwide and their educational results has improved and it is a big success for education good practice. Our school plan to mobilise students nation-wide to plant two million trees and hoped that it can be achieved in the Kuala Gula area.