By SC THA

Hatyai, Thailand, 22 June 2024 -- On 14 June 2024, 56 students from the SME boys program, Mathayom 2 level (Grade 8) in the SME program of Saengthong Vitthaya School (Salesian) Songkhla Province along with teachers and parent representatives volunteered to plant mangrove trees and release baby crabs at the Mangrove Forest Conservation Club, Hua Khao Subdistrict, Singhanakhon District, Songkhla Province, southern Thailand.

We came together to plant forests along the coastline to bring about good things for the environment on a larger scale. When we plant trees in these coastal areas, they help reduce soil degradation, minimize erosion, and improve the air quality in the region. Forest reforestation is a fresh beginning in restoring balance to nature.

Incidentally, there are approximately 100 countries with the world's mangrove forests. Normally, mangrove forests are found in coastal areas around estuaries and around various islands, which are areas that are flooded with seawater or generally known that are areas of brackish water in the tropical zone. These are areas of great importance in terms of ecology, environment, society, and economy.

For Thailand in 2024, a survey of satellite images found that there are only approximately 1.73 million rai of mangrove forests (2.29 million rai in 1961) for the southern region on the western seaboard of the Gulf of Thailand, from Chumphon, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung, Songkhla to Pattani, and on the Andaman Sea coast. It has the largest area of 89.2 percent of the country's total mangrove forests. But it is a pity that at present, mangrove forests in Thailand have been destroyed for various activities, widely and continuously throughout.

Making Salesian youth participate in mangrove planting activities and releasing baby crabs is another form of training to make them aware of their duty to jointly care for the earth and the environment, which is the home where we live together.

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