1. Inspire

I first learned about Project Orion through a scouting friend who was sharing with me about his experience for the Project Orion that he had participated in. Unaware of such a project, I was really intrigued because the objectives of this project aligned closely with my beliefs. Noticing my interest, my friend informed me about an upcoming Scout of the World Discovery Workshop and urged me to attend. Through the completion of the Discovery Workshop, I learnt about the United Nations’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that aim to tackle poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice. Learning about how to tackle various world problems made me think about what scouts, and myself as a scout, can do to play our part in solving them.

2. Learn & Decide

Through the Discovery Workshop, I got to gain a more in-depth understanding of Project Orion. Sijie and previous Project Orion friends shared detailed information, such as its aims and goals, of the project and also included their own personal thoughts on their experience. I learnt that Project Orion is a yearly ongoing project and its main objective is to create awareness and conservation of marine turtles. In addition, there are also a series of construction projects that will promote and improve the development of the community living there. By enhancing the condition and facilities of the living community there, it will not only be beneficial for the residents in bettering their lives but may also bring about a positive impact on the turtles. We hope that our efforts will be understood and the community can continue protecting the turtles after we depart from them.

3. Do

Project :  Project Orion IX - Rovering with Turtles

Date :  10 June 2018 to 24 June 2018

About:  It is an annual project that collaborates with the World Wide Fund for Nature - Malaysia (WWF-Malaysia) and Pengusaha Wanita Setiu (PEWANIS) from Kampung Mangkok in Setiu, Terengganu, Malaysia.

Our project includes:

1.Night beach patrolling

Ranger patrols the beaches every night to prevent poachers from hurting the turtles and collecting their eggs which are sold at the market at a very high price. Despite many conservation groups in Malaysia advocating the ban of consuming and selling of turtle eggs, it is still debatable if sales of turtle eggs are present in Terengganu market.

Rangers also safely collect the turtle eggs and move them to a man-made hatchery where the turtle eggs are kept safe from both poachers and natural predators like the ghost crab. The hatchery is very well organized and was made to simulate an actual turtle nest. There are net surrounding each of the “nest” along with a tag that indicates how many eggs were placed inside.

The purpose of this hatchery is to protect the eggs and give the baby turtles a better chance at survival even before they hatched. However, in reality, not all baby turtles will survive. Their natural survival rates are very low in the ecosystem as some turtle eggs are food for their predators. However, it is important to note that one of their predators are human. There are many poachers hunting for mother turtles laying eggs so that they can collect them and sell them in the market.

2.Turtle nest excavation

In the hatchery, nest excavation will be conducted one or two weeks after the emerge of the hatchlings. We had to dig into the man-made “nest” and stretch our backs to reach for the eggs. We had to count the number of egg shells and made sure the numbers matched the number that we collected that was shown on the tag. For research purposes, we also had to break open any unhatched eggs to determine if they are yolk or embryo.

After the eggs hatched, it will then be set free. This will increase the number of baby turtle hatchlings which will, in turn, boost the growth of marine turtles.

3.Mangrove seedling preparation

We were invited to Pak Mi’s house to look at his mangrove seedling plantation. It was a great innovation where he uses well water and bird’s droppings to fertile the mangrove seedlings. We also learn how to prepare mangrove seedlings for plantation. Pak Mi explained to us where he got his mangrove seedlings from and also how he prepares them before planting them. The preparation that has to be done consisted of a special formula of soil and clay that he came up with by testing and experimenting serval times. He was truly inspiring because, despite limited resources, he is able to come up with innovative ways to grow mangroves.

4.A series of Construction projects

Our first project for this Project Orion IX is the construction of a shelter for a laksa stall. With the completion of the shelter done for the laksa stall, we hope that the Pakcik can reopen his laksa stall and get more customers.

Following that, we started on a new project which is the expansion of a mini-mart in the village by installing a grill. This mini-mart is near to the pink house that we stopped by every single day to either get ice-cream or cold drinks. This project is to expand the front porch of their house which is connected to the mini-mart. Hence, making their mini-mart bigger which will definitely boost their business.

Our next project is the building of a toilet outside Kak Ta’s house. The construction of the toilet that we are building is not only for future Project Orion use but also for the ease of other volunteering groups that will be coming over to Kampung Mangkuk. This will bring more comfort to Kak Ta’s family as their washroom will no longer be needed.

We were supported by Zubir and his brother, working together with us on the theses series of construction projects.

4. Share

During the course of the project, we had a blog where we posted on diligently every day. We also had an Instagram account which we used to share our daily activities in hopes that the public and more youths, in particular, will get to know more about environmental conservation and this project.

After Project Orion IX, we also organized a workshop for cub scouts where we shared about our experience on the conservation of sea turtles and doing the various construction projects. The workshop also included a simulated night patrol and nest excavation where the cub scouts got firsthand experience on the two main activities that we did in Project Orion. We ended the workshop off with a beach clean up. By sharing and educating our younger youths, this aligns with the sustainable development goals such as conservation of the environment and contribution to the community that we hope to achieve by the year 2030.