Climate change is a defining human problem, one from which humans must move from mitigating to adapting with innovative response. Sustainability is not a technical solution but a living one. In Surabaya, Indonesia, student leaders of Management and Science University (MSU) made a difference, recreating a mangrove forest to heal ailing land.
Mangroves are a crucial member of the forest ecosystem. Their leaves and branches make up detritus that nourish an intricate web of sea life in the mostly tropical and sub-tropical coastlines where they thrive. They are prime nesting and nursing grounds, offering rest and refuge to crab-eating monkeys and Royal Bengal tigers alike, as well as turtles, fish, and migratory birds.
The MSUrians are not only members of MSU’s Students Representative Council (SRC) but also the first recipients of the MSU President’s Appreciation Award for Leadership 2019. Part of their prize had been a leadership skills workshop. Combining MSU’s renewed collaboration with UNAIR and an ever-readiness to lead, the students took to the swamps to plant mangrove saplings in the outskirts of the Indonesian city.
This was also MSU’s first cross-border UNSDG programme beyond Malaysia. As zero-action ceases to be an option in a climate-challenged world, the change momentum is building through these MSUrians.
Climate change is a defining human problem, one from which humans must move from mitigating to adapting with innovative response. Sustainability is not a technical solution but a living one. In Surabaya, Indonesia, student leaders of Management and Science University (MSU) made a difference, recreating a mangrove forest to heal ailing land.
Mangroves are a crucial member of the forest ecosystem. Their leaves and branches make up detritus that nourish an intricate web of sea life in the mostly tropical and sub-tropical coastlines where they thrive. They are prime nesting and nursing grounds, offering rest and refuge to crab-eating monkeys and Royal Bengal tigers alike, as well as turtles, fish, and migratory birds.
The MSUrians are not only members of MSU’s Students Representative Council (SRC) but also the first recipients of the MSU President’s Appreciation Award for Leadership 2019. Part of their prize had been a leadership skills workshop. Combining MSU’s renewed collaboration with UNAIR and an ever-readiness to lead, the students took to the swamps to plant mangrove saplings in the outskirts of the Indonesian city.
This was also MSU’s first cross-border UNSDG programme beyond Malaysia. As zero-action ceases to be an option in a climate-challenged world, the change momentum is building through these MSUrians.