Community urged to join in conserving mangroves

COMMUNITIES need to be involved in conserving and repairing mangrove habitats in the country Josephine Tamarua, a teacher from Barakau Primary School in Central said.
Tamarua said this after attending a weeklong train-the-trainers course which was jointly facilitated by conservation group World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) and University of PNG (UPNG) through its Motupore Island Research Centre (MIRC).
Tamarua, 38, was among nine school teachers in Central who attended the course on mangrove ecosystems and the threats they face, mangrove adaptations, life in a mangrove ecosystem, mangrove rehabilitation, curriculum integration, and designing awareness tools.
“Now that we’ve been through this course, we will promote in our schools, the importance of protecting and preserving mangroves and we, as teachers will do our jobs by teaching the students but what about the community? Are all the children going home and educating their parents on what we are teaching them in the classrooms?”  she said.
Barakau Primary School teacher Eno Mauri, 45, added in support that more mangrove awareness were needed, and that the support of councillors and village chiefs was vital if mangroves were to be protected and preserved.
WWF terrestrial programme manager Ted Mamu said the training was initiated by MIRC’s former education officer, late Thomas Maniwavie which focused on working with communities in the area, to replant and rehabilitate mangroves.
“Reaching out to school children is important because this new generation will grow up knowing that mangroves really matter, and hopefully this message will also reach their families and communities,” he said.
He added that often, people did not realise how important mangroves were, until they’re gone.
“When the mangroves are not there any more, we start to see that fish catches decline because there’s no mangroves to act as a fish nursery – and we also start to miss their role in protecting against erosion and even storm surges,” Mamu said.