Caring for our common home

By THA SC

Hatyai, Thailand, 13 February 2024 -- 2 February 2024, 53 Mathayom 1 students (Grade 7) in the SME program of Saengthong Vitthaya School (Salesian) and Thidanukroh School (Salesian Sisters) Songkhla Province along with teachers and parent representatives did volunteer activities “Nature Conservation” at Ton Nga Chang Wildlife Sanctuary, which has an area covering Songkhla and Satun provinces, southern Thailand. The area is a large forest bordering Malaysia. It is a complete forest with abundant wildlife and a watershed forest with many streams flowing into the Songkhla Lake basin, nourishing hundreds of thousands of rai of agricultural land.

Activities begin with listening to a lecture on natural resource conservation and the role of the officials of the Ton Nga Chang Wildlife Sanctuary, with Mr. Panapon Chiva Sereechon, Head of the Ton Nga Chang Wildlife Sanctuary, as a speaker. Mr. Panapon emphasized the respect and protection of biodiversity that exists in nature. Afterward, the students volunteered to help collect trash and clean the area around the wildlife sanctuary. Together, they built a weir to slow down the water at Ton Nga Chang Waterfall. Such activities help students understand the benefits of building weirs, which help retain water and reduce soil erosion. It reduces the intensity of water currents in the creek and helps retain sediment and various materials that flow down with the water into the creek. This helps increase biological diversity and becomes a habitat for aquatic animals.

All the students enjoyed the activities they did throughout the day. This activity received good cooperation from the teachers, the students, and the parents of Saeng Thong Vitthaya School. This helps create awareness of taking care of the planet which is our common home where we live together. Let us help conserve nature and the environment, which is God's creation according to the guidelines that the Church emphasizes.

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