Section I

A. Project Goals: 

1. To increase the population of marine species that reside in Pantai Leka, Parit Jawa through the planting of mangrove saplings.
2. To boost the economy of fishermen in Pantai Leka, Parit Jawa by increasing the population of marine species in that area.
3. To spread awareness about the importance of marine care to the environment and voluntary activities in undergraduate students.

B. Fund-raising support & Other external sponsorship:

• Students Affair Department Office, UTHM

C. Project Implementation:

1. Project Flow Summary:
   1. 6 August 2022

• Project planning with project members
• Task distribution

2. 13 August 2022

• Potential site visit
• Meeting with community

3. 20 August 2022

• Discussion among project members about visited sites
• Task distribution on purchasing equipments and items

4. 27 August 2022

• Budgeting and purchasing equipments and items according to the design of the project

5. 22 December 2022

• Site clearance
• Preparation of the project

6. 23 December 2022

• First phase of project
• 500 mangrove seedlings planted

7. 26 January 2023

• Second phase of project
• 1500 mangrove seedlings planted 

8. 27 January - 7 February 2023

• Report making
• Project completed

D. Difficulties

• The high level of water during high tides can be risky for safety
• Risk of mangrove seedlings being washed away due to rainy season 
• Project was delayed a few times due to inconvenience weather

E. Language or cultural barriers

We had a good experience working with the fishermen community in Pantai Leka, Parit Jawa. We did not face any language barrier throughout the project. However,  the only barrier that we faced was a cultural barrier where we faced some difficulties in explaining the importance of mangroves especially in scientific terms to the villagers.

F. Project Implementation Process

The project was done successfully due to the efforts and cooperation given by project members, local community and our main sponsor, My Starfish Foundation. This project achieved its objectives and outcomes successfully. This project also successfully raised the amount of crowdfunding. Through the implementation of this project, we were able to spread awareness to the public and local community about the importance of mangrove plants and the importance of conserving the ecosystems on Earth.

E. Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries of our project, which is the fishermen community, were very satisfied with this project and they hope that this project can be done again in the future.

The main goal  of our project is to increase the population of marine species that reside in Pantai Leka, Parit Jawa through the planting of mangrove saplings. Through the act of planting 2000 mangroves in Pantai Leka, Parit Jawa, we successfully provide more habitat for fish and marine organisms to live and breed. Through the implementation of this project, 150 fishermen benefit economically as the main source of income which is marine animals increases by the increasing number of mangrove trees.

During the crowdfunding stage, our beneficiaries were very supportive about this project as some people from the fishermen community also donated some money to be invested through this project implementation. At the end of the day, we were able to crowdfund RM1203 from Parit Jawa and other communities.

Furthermore, through this project, the beneficiaries also had an experience to learn about the importance of mangrove plants for the ecosystem and economy. They also had experience to practice the correct mangrove planting method during this project. One of our lecturers, who is an expert in mangrove plant and ecosystem, also gave a knowledge and experience sharing on the correct way to plant mangrove and their importance to the ecosystem especially in Malaysia. The beneficiaries and us had a valuable time in completing this project even though it is energy and skill demanding. Other than that, this project can also be a benchmark for the volunteership programme involving communities in our university specifically as the flagship programme of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme about environmental protection.

H. Post-project

This project is our second effort in increasing the population of mangrove plants in Johor. The first was done at Kota Tinggi in 2019. The element of this project is focused on the sustainability of mangrove plants and marine animals habitat to help the fishermen community boost their economy. After we completed the project, we did a site visit to determine the sustainability of the mangrove plants. Fortunately, we found that 99% of the mangrove plants were still alive during the site visit. Through this finding, we can conclude that the project has a very high sustainability and efficiency percentage. We will continue to visit the site regularly to monitor the development of mangrove seedlings and we hope that the mangrove seedlings can make it into the next phase of their life cycle and grow to become mature mangrove trees. We were looking forward to do this project again but it depends on the funds and weather concerns.

Section II (a)

How does or will your project contribute to happiness? Short-term? Long-term?

Social Well-Being,  Environmental Resilience And Sustainability Of Pantai Leka, Parit Jawa brings happiness to the children of our beneficiaries which are the fishermen community in Pantai Leka, Parit Jawa, Muar, Johor. Through the implementation of this project, the fishermen community will increase their income by having more habitat for the marine organisms.

Other than that, local communities also felt happy during the project by learning and practising mangrove plantings. They love to help the plant mangrove seedlings to help maintain our ecosystems and help the fishermen community.

Next, undergraduate students of Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) also felt very happy to be involved in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme by engaging and working together with local communities. We also felt very happy to be involved in a programme that will help our nature to sustain and increase the resilience of mangrove ecosystems.

In conclusion, Social Well-Being,  Environmental Resilience And Sustainability Of Pantai Leka, Parit Jawa brings happiness to our beneficiaries which are fishermen community, local communities and undergraduate students of Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM).

Has your project changed the way you think about the world? How has it changed you?

Social Well-Being,  Environmental Resilience And Sustainability Of Pantai Leka, Parit Jawa project really changed the way I think about the world. Before I was involved in this project, I never realised how important mangrove plants are for us. After being involved in this project, I got so much knowledge and exposure about how the act of planting mangrove seedlings can help to boost the economy of the fishermen community, act as a natural wave breaker to prevent natural disaster and increase the biodiversity on Earth.

Section II (b)

Naim:

“There are no U and I in the word TEAMWORK, but there are W and E that stands for we”

Zarith:

“This project really helps us to better understand and appreciate our nature on Earth”

Amer:

“The only journey that is impossible is the one that never starts”

Saadah:

“All the hard work in carrying out this project felt really of worth it after watching the happiness of the beneficiaries”

Safiza:

“Appreciating nature is our responsibility, if not us, who else?”

Hanissara:

“Happiness is contagious. The happiness of the community also give me my own happiness