The Ecotourism Beach of Blekok Village, located in Situbondo Regency, is one of the locations for mangrove conservation in East Java. Not only that, this location is also a habitat for Blekok birds.
This is an area that is vulnerable to human activities. Moreover, the location of Blekok village which is at the mouth of the river, making this area easily polluted by waste from the mainland.
This underlies a group of lecturers and students of the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, Universitas Brawijaya to conduct socialization to the community. This activity was carried out on Friday (9/24/2021), in collaboration with Fisheries and Marine Service Situbondo City, BAPPEDA, the Environment Service and Tourism Office of Situbondo Regency.
The group led by Umi Zakiyah, Mohammad Mahmudi, Arief Darmawan, Supriatna, Mulyanto, Andi Kurniawan, Sri Sudaryanti, Sulastri Arsyad aims to achieve a sustainable area and ensure sustainable management of this beach runs well.
“Socialization is needed to increase knowledge about Blekok Beach resources for the protection of the coastal environment. Then there was a FGD to get an understanding of increasing the role of stakeholders in the development and processing of resources at Blekok Beach,” said Umi.
Through this activity, Umi and the team are targeting an increase in awareness about the condition of mangrove area and ecotourism areas from stakeholders. “We also hope that communication and coordination between elements at this location will run well,” she added.
In addition, more intensive handling of industrial waste is needed which has an impact on the waters of Blekok Beach. “The handling of heavy metals and microplastics is also our concern. In addition, educational assistance is needed regarding the cultivation of mud crabs for the economic development of the local community,” she concluded. (VQ/ Humas UB/ Trans. Iir)
