Reef Check Malaysia’s Rockin’ 4 the Reefs 2013

By Reef Check Malaysia

In April, Reef Check Malaysia (RCM) and the Environmental Education Alliance of South East Asia (EEASEA), with support from Ecoknights and Go! International, organized Rockin’ 4 the Reefs 2013 (R4R). R4R is an annual music, arts and cultural festival to raise awareness and funds for local environmental education and conservation initiatives. It is part of the annual Rockin for the Environment series that has “rocked” in the past for sun bears, dugongs, orangutans, tigers and turtles.

The two-week long R4R campaign was launched at Publika, a local shopping mall, with performances by school groups from SK Bukit Damansara, SMK Puterijaya, SK Brickfields, International School KL and the Alice Smith School, as well as performances from local artists Az Samad, Poova and Bihzhu. In addition to the performances, 17 non-governmental organizations and businesses that promote green living showcased their work and products at the R4R bazaar.

After the launch, RCM continued to visit schools, universities and companies under the banner of R4R, conducting talks to raise awareness for coral reefs and problems they are facing. The talks reached out to about 3,365 school students and close to 100 staff from various companies around Kuala Lumpur.

In conjunction with R4R, RCM also launched its “Adopt a Reef” and “Adopt a Reef Critter” programs, allowing individuals and companies to contribute to coral reef conservation. For RM 1000, an individual or company can support the cost of conducting a coral reef survey. Alternatively, an individual can also symbolically adopt one of 3 reef critters for RM 20, RM 50 and RM 100. This will help fund coral reef education programs.

R4R has raised nearly RM 10,000 for local environmental education and conservation, and has reached out through various media to educate an estimated 20,000 people about coral reefs. The Rockin 4 the Environment series will continue in 2014 and will hope to reach out to more individuals and spread awareness for conservation initiatives.

Launch event at Publika	School group performance
Bihzhu performing at R4R	Awareness talk at school