TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Nadine Chandrawinata: Saving the environment with sea soldiers
Kapanlagi
Change Size
Kapanlagi.com
She is pretty, as expected from a winner of the Miss Indonesia beauty pageant. But what makes actress Nadine Chandrawinata different is her decision to be an eco-warrior.
In a bid to conserve oceans and the environment, Nadine has been seeking volunteers through the hashtag #SeaSoldiers on her Instagram account.
'The target of this program is young people who live in cities,' said the 31-year-old, who has been appointed by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) as its ambassador for marine conservation.
Nadine said she targeted city people as volunteers because, among other reasons, they still dumped trash and toxic waste in public waterways.
Such actions, she said, would impact the lives of fish, coral reefs and other marine biota in seas.
The sea soldiers, she said, would be asked to dispose of garbage in the right place, limit the use of air conditioners, reduce the use of plastic bags and styrofoam as well as conduct other simple environmentally friendly activities.
'I believe that what they [sea soldiers] do will inspire people to follow,' she said.
Around 30.4 percent of coral reefs in Indonesia are suffering serious damage, according to a report published by the Indonesian government's Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program (Coremap) in 2014.
The research was conducted in 1,135 spots in 15 cities and regencies, including Mentawai in West Sumatra, Natuna in Riau Islands, Wakatobi in Southeast Sulawesi, Sikka in East Nusa Tenggara, Biak Numfor in Papua and Raja Ampat in West Papua.
Since April, Nadine has found 90 volunteers from various cities, such as Banda Aceh in Aceh, Padang in West Sumatra and Malang in East Java.
Each soldier has to form a group and look for members before taking action to preserve nature in their surroundings.
Nadine provided her volunteers with gypsy-style bracelets to show their sequential numbers.
For example, Redho Yulia Putra, as the 26th soldier, told his Instagram followers that he had reduced the use of plastic bottles.
Communication among volunteers is usually conducted through the photo-sharing website, Nadine said, adding that she planned to hold a gathering with her volunteers to learn what actions they had taken and to discuss possible common actions.
The idea of saving marine life came to Nadine sometime in 2005 after she saw damaged coral and garbage in some diving spots, including Raja Ampat.
She also witnessed rising consumption of shark fins and sea turtle eggs as well as the use of accessories made of marine life.
Nadine then decided to team up with local administrations and NGOs to save marine life in the country.
She said that she was happy because her efforts had produced positive results and she praised local administrations ' like that of Raja Ampat regency, which banned shark and manta ray hunting after she spoke about the issue through the hashtag #SOShark ' for supporting the environmental efforts.
Local administrations, like Wakatobi regency, have also selected Nadine as an ecotourism ambassador.
In 2011, Nadine produced the Camilla Andini-directed film The Mirror Never Lies to expose the richness of Bajo people's local wisdom and the beauty of the Wakatobi islands.
She also displayed the beauty of Indonesian seas through her book, Nadine: Labour of Love.
Nadine is still traveling across the archipelago to witness the beauty of the ocean and to dive. She has been a certified dive rescuer since 2006.
'My purpose is simple. I want people around the globe to know that Indonesia has many beautiful diving spots, from Sabang [in Aceh] to Merauke [in Papua].'
