Sapphire Coast Marine Discovery Centre’s marine education officer Jillian Riethmuller has returned from her seven month sojourn in Indonesia, with exotic tales and fresh conservation ideas to share.
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“I was in Mataram on Lombok (the island just east of Bali),” Ms Riethermuller said on Tuesday May 24.
“The work I was doing was with a small NGO called Juang Laut Lestari which means supporting sustainable seas. They are a marine conservation group that runs a few different programs across Lombok and in Sumbawa. They run education programs for schools, work with fishermen about sustainable fishing practices, do swim training and much more. The people are dedicated and wonderful people, very highly educated.”
Ms Riethmuller also worked on helping design and develop a boat used for education and research.
“I learnt so much while over there, not just in terms of work but also about the culture and the difficulties of working with people from a different cultural background,” Ms Riethmuller said.
“It was truly eye-opening and an experience that I will never forget. The people that I worked with are now lifelong friends.”
Ms Riethmuller returned to the South Coast inspired by all she learnt, with fresh ideas for her work in education and conservation at Eden’s marine centre.
“I will bring over some of the work we did on marine debris and pearl oyster farming to my work at SCMDC,” Ms Riethmuller said.
“My main project was to develop an ocean games’ resource that will be very valuable here.”
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