MANGROVE EDUCATION PROGRAM

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MANGROVE EDUCATION PROGRAM

Introduction
The Mangrove Education Program is organized by Universiti Putra Malaysia in collaboration with Malaysian Nature Society for school students and teachers.

The Mangrove Education Program is one of the initiatives under the ‘Sustainable Aquatic Resource Management in Mangrove Ecosystems via Internet of Things Application (MEITA) project in collaboration with TEIN under the Asia@ Connect, sponsored by the ‘European Commission’.

The Mangrove Education Program comprised of three main activities, which is the mangrove webinar series, competition (poem and fotography competition and TikTok Video) and a conference.

Mangrove Education Program Webinar Series
The webinar series consists of four sessions organized to promote awareness on mangrove ecosystems and the importance of conserving it using technology. We were fortunate to have speakers who are experts in their own field to share the various components of mangrove biology and ecology, mangrove and its communities and the use of technology in mangrove conservation. The webinar series were held between the months of August and October 2021 was well participated by 800 students, teacher trainees and school teachers nationwide.

Mangrove Education Program (Photo poem and TikTok Video Competition)
The Photo Poetry and TikTok Video Competition was organized to encourage students of various skills and interest to join us in the effort to spread the message on the importance of conserving our mangroves through the use of language and social media platform. We were truly encouraged by the support and participation of so many students in the competition. We received a total of 500 photo poem entries and 90 video TikTok submissions from the one-month competition duration.

SYABAS to all who had participated in this competition
CONGRATULATIONS to all the winners!

We would like to thank
• the assessors who had been involved in the different stages of assessing the photo poem entries and video TikTok submissions.
• all the school teachers who were instrumental in supporting us by encouraging your students in join us in the Mangrove Education Program activities.
• All participants who had participated in the activities

We hope to see you in the Mangrove Education Program Conference which will be held in February, in conjunction with World Wetlands Day 2022.

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Mangrove Ecosystem

Gastropods

  • Molluscs play significant function in mangrove ecosystems.
  • Gastropods are found very diverse and mostly in the substrate and attached to the mangrove stems.
  • They form a camouflage in the mangrove due to their diverse shells! No wonder we can’t see them!

Mangrove Ecosystem

Gastropods

  • They feed on very small things by scraping or brushing off particles from any surface!
  • How? They are using a bony structure of tiny teeth or also known as radula.

Mangrove Ecosystem

Skink

  • Skinks are most diverse species in the lizard family.
  • They have elongate snake like body, long tails, smooth scale skin and most probably they look exactly like a snake with legs!
  • They are diurnal and can be found basking in the sun along forest floor or on tree trunks
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Mangrove Ecosystem

Skink

  • The male of skink is known as common sun skink. The colour of the flank can be varied from olive-brown to reddish-orange and the throat colour can be varied from white to yellow
  • The female can be identified by the five or seven dark lines on its ventral surface parallel to its body line.
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Mangrove Ecosystem

Mudskipper -
Is that fish or a salamander?

  • During low tide, mangrove mudflats is a muddy territories for mudskippers.
  • They can be found sliding, jumping, hunting and fighting over their shelter or mates!
  • They are members of Gobiidae family, are seldom mistaken for other reptiles due to their snake-head and submarine shapes!
  • Malaysia has 19 species of mudskippers diversity on different sites.
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Mangrove Ecosystem

Mudskipper -
Is that fish or a salamander?

  • Mudskippers develops three ways of breathing:- gill sacks, wet skin and oxygen exchange through membrane located at the back of their mouth.
  • No wonder they can sliding over muddy during low tides like a pro!
  • They can easily sliding over muddy due to their special-adapted pelvic fins which we can see they are walking by using their fins! Even its looks weird, but the are really fast!
  • They can just disappear in the blink of an eyes!
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Mangrove Ecosystem

Mudskipper

  • During mating season, females lay eggs in the tunnel loops and male will guard the tunnel and taking care of their eggs.
  • They will aerate the eggs by using their fin and on high tide, they will bring in mouthful of fresh air into egg chamber for oxygen supply.

Mangrove Ecosystem

Mudskipper

  • The rotating eyes of mudskipper gives super vision like mutant for detecting danger and predators
  • They are not endangerd animals, but like others biotics, their populations will decrease due to pollution.
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Mangrove Ecosystem

Fiddler crabs

  • Fiddler crabs can be observed in great numbers especially at low tide.
  • They are busiest at low tide by digging, picking, eating, chasing and dancing to attract mates.
  • They comes with interesting colours:- blue, red, orange, white, green and combination of several colour.

Mangrove Ecosystem

Fiddler crabs

  • Fiddler crabs will dig a hole as for shelter and keep their gill moist
  • The male has one larger claw as for shield from predators and act as a ‘door’ in the hole.
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Mangrove Ecosystem

Fiddler crabs

  • During low tide, they are waving their claws and do frantic wave action to attract female for their partners in the ‘hole’ during high tide.
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Socio-economic

The community of Kg Sijangkang

Instead of just clearing up the garbage in the illegal dumping area inside the mangrove, the community heroes of Kg Sijangkang have also successfully turn this unsanitary and unsightly area into an area that can benefit more people and nature itself.

Other than the establishment with their own effort, to maintain this park in the long run they volunteer themselves to do all the work chores.

The oldest committee member of this park is 75 years old and the youngest is between 30 to 40 years old. This different generation age range is what makes it complimentary in developing this mangrove park.

The development of this park gains so many supports from the villagers in terms of building material such as woods for the boardwalk.

This awe-inspiring effort is what makes Kg Sijangkang community a good example of the positive community that work together towards a common goal that is to conserve and sustain the natural environment that they live in.

Robotic

  • Technology can help create a positive impact to mitigate ecological degradation, promote sustainable development, build green infrastructure and increase biodiversity as-well-as resilience of the coastal ecology. Robots extend the scope of IoT applications where they both rely on sensors to understand their environment, rapidly process large streams of data and decide how to respond.

Fiddler Crab

Fiddler Crabs

  • Fiddler crabs can be observed in great numbers especially at low tide.

  • They are busiest at low tide by digging, picking, eating, chasing and dancing to attract mates.

  • They comes with interesting colours:- blue, red, orange, white, green and combination of several colour.

Fiddler Crabs

  • Fiddler crabs will dig a hole as for shelter and keep their gill moist

  • The male has one larger claw as for shield from predators and act as a ‘door’ in the hole.

Fiddler Crabs

During low tide, they are waving their claws and do frantic wave action to attract female for their partners in the ‘hole’ during high tide.

Climate Change

Offsetting carbon emissions is an essential component of climate action, as carbon dioxide leads to global warming and sea level rise. One such incredible contribution to fight climate change comes from mangrove ecosystems. Mangrove forests serve a critical role in climate regulation and climate change mitigation, serving as highly effective carbon storage sites than other forests. Climate change impacts, such as storms and rapid sea level rise, are additional factors that lead to reduction in mangrove forests.

Water Quality

For meaningful analysis and management decisions, the monitoring of generated data is crucial.

Its main asset is that it uses collective opinion to establish a system which can be applied more objectively.

The monitoring of water quality is important for the implementation of national water pollution control programmes, for the assessment of the effect of human activities on water quality, and for the formulation of water resource management strategies and policies.

In-situ water quality parameters to monitor by using IoT:

  • pH
  • Temperature
  • BOD

Biodiversity

Mangroves are denoted to offer innumerable crucial ecosystem services for whole wide both for ecological and economic value. Since mangroves located at the protected area, mangrove trees has unique characteristic such as prop roots, knee roots and wax leave to survive at muddy area. These characteristic act as breeding grounds and nursery site for shrimps, fish, crabs, shellfish, birds and others. These animals has unique adaptation to live in mangrove for example mudskipper has pelvic fins to crawl on mudflat during low tide, fiddler crabs has big claw to protect from predators and others.

Mangroves forests provide habitats for thousands of species. The muddy tidal provide a buffer zone that protects the land from wind and wave damage. Mangroves and animals are work together to sustain the ecosystems in mangrove. Mangrove forests are highly productive ecosystems with high rates of mangroves trees production and most of the carbon is lost by decomposition in this area. Mangroves also offer protection from catastrophic event for instance shoreline erosion, tsunami, and bioaccumulation for pollution. Regardless of their significant, mangrove is vanishing due to climate changes and human exploitation.

Innumerable mangrove forest provides incredible productive food web. As the part of forest decay, it’s become sources of nutrients for invertebrates and scavengers. Tides circulate nutrients and decaying matters as food for many small organism for instant polychaete, anemones, jellyfish and fry. Thus, filter feeders for example oyster will be restored and seabed will be established. Mangrove forest also offer resources for human survival. During low tide, people can walk across the flat tidal to collect shellfish, crabs, octopus, shrimp and others. At high tide, fry will be invaded and accumulated at protective roots. Thus, people will catch the fish for protein sources and economic value. Forest tree will be cutting down as main sources of fuel, woods for building house, boat and jetty. 

Internet of Things (IoT)

  • Technology has seen an astonishing process of development and transformation. Connecting sensors to the mangrove will benefit people, business, society, and compile critical information such as soil and weather conditions, as well as water levels which can definitely help to ensure that there will be healthy mangrove forests for future generations to enjoy.

Before Quiz!

Mangrove Environment

  • Mangrove ecosystems are often unappreciated even they offer value to humanity at no cost. Mangroves create among the most important ecosystems in the world than we realise. The value of these ecosystems can not be overlooked and must be protected and restored. By improving the health of mangroves ecosystems, we reinforce protection for the coastlines, conserve the biodiversity and benefit the local communities that depend on them.

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World of Mangroves

What are mangroves?
The most important types of trees in the world where generally found live in the area where the tide moves in and out along the coasts, estuaries and rivers. These unique trees are able to deal with salt water
Mangroves create among the most important ecosystems in the world than we realise.
They help keep the climate stable, create a vital shelter for various species and mangroves act as a natural defense in prevent storm surges and also preventing erosion

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More than 95% of the mangrove forests in Peninsular Malaysia is found in the more sheltered west coast states such as Perak, Selangor and Johor
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Mangroves Species

Species are distinguished by looking in the shape and colour of the leaves, the type of bark, the shape of the trunk and roots and the kind of flowers and fruits they grow.
A mangrove will not have flowers and fruits all year.
These special characteristics added to the fruits and plants is to help increase survival of offspring.
Some examples of mangrove species that people might see when going along a mangrove boardwalk are Avicennia, Sonneratia, Rhizophora and Bruguiera species.

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3-lobeb fruit ( a capsule) of Excoecaria agallocha

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Prop root of Rhizophora species
Prop roots help to prevent this aquatic tree from being knocked over by the current or tide.

Pencil-like pneumatophores root of Avicennia species
In Avicennia and Sonneratia species, the pneumatophores are erect side branches of the horizontal roots which grow below the soil.

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Kneed Roots
In Bruguiera and Ceriops species the horizontal roots growing just below the soil surface periodically grow vertically upwards then immediately loop downwards to resemble a bent knee.
 Lumnitzera species also produce inconspicuous, small kneed roots which appear to be intermediate in structure between those of the above species and pneumatophores.

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