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Vol 5 No 2 Aug 98 Copper-throated Sunbird's Nesting Habitat Flowers of the Swamp Ubin Lifestyle Bird Sightings (Mar-May 98) Launch of "A Guide to Sungei Buloh" Commonwealth Regional Youth Seminar Story-telling at Sungei Buloh Earth Day 98 Mangrove Seedling Programme Swarming to the Swamp: Sivasothi's introduction to mangroves		Mad about Mangrove Collectively, the 120 youths from the Commonwealth Regional Youth Seminar posed a "big" challenge for Lim Haw Chuan and his aides as they went all out to capture the youths' attention and get them wild about the mangrove In the morning on 10 June 1998, the Visitor Centre of Sungei Buloh Nature Park was bustling with life. Guests came to attend the launch of "A Guide to Sungei Buloh Nature Park". The crowd was bolstered by a strong contingent of 120 youths from the Commonwealth Regional Youth Seminar. These youths were having a seminar on their roles in Sustainable Development. A trip down to Sungei Buloh, which would normally be quite leisurely, was unusually eventful for the youths. First, they attended the official launch of the Park's new guidebook and the unveiling of a new location map at the Outdoor Classroom. The unveiling of the location map signified a concerted effort between HongkongBank and Sungei Buloh Nature Park to enrich the experience of visitors to the Park. After the official launch, the youths were led through the Park, a conservation success story in itself, on an educational tour. They were briefed on the nature of the Park, its history and its flora and fauna by our staff and a volunteer. Throughout the tour, the youths were kept busy. They were encouraged to collect seeds of mangrove plants for our Mangrove Mania programme. These seedlings would be cared for and later replanted in appropriate spots. The enthusiasm was further heightened by the promise of the heron series of first day covers to the team that collected the most species. What better way to learn about the mangrove plants than to identify the mother trees and looking out for seedlings under and around them. After an educating and "fruitful" round, the youths were treated to a sumptuous round of refreshments while their collections were sorted. To the elation of the youths, there was a tie among the three teams which meant a prize for everyone! A few youths were also selected to carry out demonstrative planting witnessed by their peers. At the end of the morning, the youths left knowing more about the mangrove, knowing that they had contributed to the conservation of wetland and knowing what they have learnt and contributed was just the beginning of a long path to nature awareness.
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