By: Natalia Trita Agnika

There are many people who claim to be nature lovers. Various activities are carried out by nature lovers to show their love for nature. But mostly, the activities are only about enjoying the beauty of nature, such as climbing mountains, crafting, going to the beach, camping, etc. In fact, a true nature lover is someone who truly appreciates and cares about nature. In fact, a true nature lover is someone who truly appreciates and cares about the surrounding nature and does not just enjoy its beauty.

Panda Mobile WWF-Indonesia as a conservation messenger wants to invite nature lovers to truly love nature. One of them is through activities with extracurricular participants of nature lovers at SMAN 24 Jakarta. This group of nature lovers called EXISPAL24 got new insights about Sumatran tigers from the Panda Mobile team last Friday (12/08).

The Panda Mobile team opened the activity by providing an introduction to WWF and the conservation programs that have been carried out. In their presentation, the Panda Mobile team explained about the Sumatran tiger's original habitat, its current condition, and how they survive. Aside from being part of the tiger conservation campaign, this activity is also to foster students' love for endangered animals. One way to conserve endangered animals is to help maintain the integrity of their habitat.

Members of EXISPAL24 SMAN 24 Jakarta were also invited to watch a documentary film entitled "Mila and the Tiger Team". The movie tells the story of a tiger research team (Team Tiger) that is tracking Sumatran tiger tracks in the forests of Sumatra. The participants listened seriously as they watched scenes of the researchers observing tiger tracks, observing tiger dung, and setting up camera traps. Camera traps are installed because tigers are elusive or shy animals that are difficult to observe directly.

After watching the movie, one of the students named Tiara asked, "If you are in the forest, how is the food supply for the volunteers? How many weeks is it supplied once? And how long do they spend in the forest?" Panda Mobile volunteer Tenno Maulana Hendra replied, "Based on my research activities in Kalimantan, we are supplied every two weeks. As for the duration of the research, it depends on the agenda and needs." Incidentally, Tenno is a Biology major who has conducted research on orangutans, birds and mammals in Kalimantan.

The atmosphere was even warmer when the Panda Mobile team showed the participants how the camera trap works. The high school students, who love outdoor activities, were enthusiastic to see what a camera trap looks like and works like.

They were also invited to find solutions with group discussions. Each group received a different theme, namely forest fires, forest conservation, illegal logging, tigers, and tiger poaching. After they discussed for 20 minutes, each group went to the front of the class to present the results of their discussion.

The day's activities have opened the horizons of nature lovers to care more and love nature through rare animal conservation. "The presentation was good. We previously didn't know how to collect data for tiger research. And apparently, the sound of tigers and lions is different hehe," Tiara said about the Panda Mobile activity at her school. Hopefully the arrival of the Panda Mobile team will make these nature lovers really love and care for nature.