Depok, Thursday (25/1) at Building B Room 101 FMIPA UI held a seminar on biodiversity and sustainability of marine ecosystems in Indonesia, which was the culmination of a series of activitiesof the 2nd Winter School Program.
TitledOne Day Seminar on Marine Tropical Diversity and Sustainability, this seminar was attended by more than one hundred participants consisting of participantsof The 2nd Winter School Programwhich is a combination of 6 students from the Department of Biology, FMIPA UI and 6 students from Universiteit Leiden, students from the Department of Biology, FMIPA UI, students from Universiti Putra Malaysia who are currently carrying out their community service program at FMIPA UI, Depok and the surrounding areas also joined this seminar.
In front of the participants consisting of various countries, Dr. rer. nat. Abdul Haris, as the Dean of FMIPA UI in his speech, expressed his pride in the return of the Winter School Program and this year it was held in conjunction with the Universiti Putra Malaysia Community Service Program, where both activities are internationalization programs in the academic field of FMIPA UI.
“I think this is a very proud moment for FMIPA UI because in January we can carry out two cross-country activities at once, namely the 2018 winter school program and theWe Volunteer Mobility Programme Mission UPM (Universiti Putra Malaysia) -INDONESIA,both of which are internationalization programs in our academic field.”
Abdul Haris further hopes that this activity can be utilized optimally as an opportunity to interact with each other and exchange knowledge.
Present as speakers wereProf. Dr. Ir. Peter M. Van Bodegom,an environmental biologist from Leiden University,Nicole J. De Voogd, Ph.D.,a researcher at the center for natural biodiversity at Leiden University, andDr. rer. nat. Mufti Petala Patria, M.Sc.,a marine expert from the Department of Biology, FMIPA UI. The topics raised in the seminar wereEcosystem services to protect and optimize marine and freshwater ecosystems, The Future of the Tropical Coral reef Ecosystem, Microplastics in the Ocean: A Serious Problem.
In this seminar, the participants of the 2018 Winter School program, divided into 6 discussion groups, presented the results of their observationprojectsconducted during an excursion study on Pramuka Island, Seribu Islands for 9 days, namely January 16-24, 2018 with the themeTropical Biodiversity and Sustainability: Marine Chapter. Thisobservation projectconsists of marine themes related tosustainabilityon Pramuka Island. The six observation project themes areThe anthropogenic factors toward percentage coral coverage , The interaction between macroalgae and lifeform coral in Pramuka Island and Air Island, Seribu Island, Mangrove ecosystem service at Pramuka Island, Ornamental fish trading and its effect on sustainability (Panggang Island case study), Sea turtles conversation in Pramuka Island, Overexploration of edible species in the intertidal zone.
Dr. rer. nat. Yasman, Head of the Department of Biology and Chair of the Organizing Committee, hopes this activity will raise awareness of the importance of preserving biodiversity and the sustainability of marine ecosystems. According to Yasman, biodiversity is of great benefit to human life, including maintaining the nation’s assets in the form of potential natural resources for sustainable development.
