Project Orion IV, as the name suggests, is the fourth installment to the Project Orion, which is originally conceived in 2009.

PO IV is done in collaboration with World Wildlife Fund for Nature – Malaysia (WWF), and has been an annual event, with preceding Project Orion in June 2009, Project Orion II in June 2010, and Project Orion III in June 2011. This time round, PO IV is made up of a team of 5 members, comprising of Team Leader Mr Tan Sijie, Operation Managers Mr Lim Wei Yung and Mr Muhammad Waqiuddin, Logistics Support Mr Benjamin Sho, and myself as the Administrative Support.

The project lasted from 23rd June 2013 to 7th July 2013. Over a span of 15 days, Team PO IV carried various activities and work which made a positive impact on the local community as well as the turtle conservation efforts.

Much foundation had been laid by our predecessors, who made valuable connections with the local villagers as well as the local branch of WWF. All these foundation work has helped us immensely in the building of sustained trust with the local community, and we could start doing work quickly to improve the status quo in Kampung Mangkok.

As the saying goes: “We did not inherit our natural environment from our ancestors; we merely borrowed it from the future generations”, ensuring that the natural heritage can be sustained should be our concern as we enjoy its rich resources now.

Through PO IV, I have learned more about efforts contributing to the protection and conservation of turtle species in the region of South East Asia. However, there are many other species that are facing the threat of extinction in present day. Perhaps our collective efforts can make an impactful role in steering a population towards a society concerned about our shared natural resources.