Sondaicus BINUS SCHOOL Simprug Cares About the Javan Rhino

Indonesia is famous for its rich diversity of animals that are scattered in various regions. Various endemic animals can also be found in Indonesia. Unfortunately, the reduction in forest area causes these animals to be threatened with extinction. Forests have an important function as an ecosystem and habitat for animals. The conversion of forest functions to oil palm, industrial, mining and so on is a serious threat to wildlife. On the other hand, the rampant hunting of wild animals makes their existence even more threatened. The high rate of hunting wild animals has a serious impact on the extinction of animals.

Currently, there are still many people who underestimate the existence of several species of animals that are starting to be rare and endangered. For this reason, it is necessary to have awareness and real action from the government and society in preserving these animals. One of the endangered animals is the Javan rhino. The efforts to protect the Javan rhino population have been done quite a lot. One of them is the Javan rhino conservation area in Ujung Kulon National Park. However, this is still lacking. There needs to be a role for the community in supporting efforts to conserve Javan rhinos.

One of the roles of the community in supporting the conservation of the Javan rhino is what has been done by 3 students of SMA BINUS School Simprug named Avicena Hartojo Tirtosuharto, Kemal Rifky, William Sugiharto by establishing the Sondaicus project. Sondaicus is a non-profit organization that is committed to empowering and preserving the Javan rhino through habitat preservation and is expected to increase public awareness.

The name Sondaicus is inspired by the scientific name of the rhino, Rhinoceros Sondaicus. The project is working with the Ujung Kulon National Park team to focus their efforts on the areas most in need of assistance. Sondaicus was built on the basis of 3 main pillars namely Conservation, Community and Public Outreach. Conservation refers to efforts that directly involve the conservation of the Javan rhino. Community is intended to build social awareness about the rhino to the surrounding community. Meanwhile, Public Outreach works to disseminate it to the public in increasing social awareness about the problem.

The success of the Sondaicus project has earned him a place in the Kick Andy event and nominated for Kick Andy Heroes 2020. This project is expected to inspire other young people in raising awareness and real action to preserve the diversity of animals in Indonesia.