Schools and teachers
Learning on the Mengare coast
A restored mangrove forest as an outdoor classroom, for every school level.
What students learn
Why mangroves matter
How mangroves hold mud against waves, and what happened to the aquaculture ponds of Tanjung Widoro when they were lost.
Tides and mudflats
Reading the tide, and the crabs, shellfish and birds that live on the mud at low water.
From seed to forest
How seedlings are raised in the nursery and planted step by step, from sheltered to open ground.
Birds on the move
Shorebirds that stop here on the East Asian–Australasian Flyway, and how to watch them without disturbing them.
People and the coast
How local fishers restored the site, and how the coast supports their livelihood.
Coastal history
Mengare at the old Bengawan Solo mouth, and Benteng Lodewijk, the Daendels fort of 1808.
For every level
- Primary school
- Ocean Literacy for Kids: learning through play and observation on the boardwalk and the mudflat.
- Junior and senior high school
- Learning visit with observation sheets, planting, and a camp for scouts and youth groups.
- Teachers
- Ocean literacy workshops for teachers were first held here in June 2025.
- University
- Fieldwork and research: species data, restoration history and the mangrove plots.
Activities for schools
Education Ocean Literacy for Kids
Children learn about the sea and the coast, right in the Mengare mangroves and on the tidal mudflats.
Education Mangrove learning visit
Learn in a restored mangrove forest: from eroded aquaculture ponds to the wildlife that has come back.
Restoration Mangrove planting
Plant mangroves on eroded aquaculture ponds with the local fishers who have looked after this site since 2018.
Nature Coastal birdwatching
Watch shorebirds, waterbirds and migrants on the mangroves and mudflats.
Stay Mangrove camp
Camp beside the mangrove forest, for schools and community groups.
Learning materials on this site
- Species explorer: how to recognise each mangrove, plus fun facts.
- Biodiversity: the birds, insects and mangroves recorded here.
- Our journey: satellite images of the coast in 2009, 2014 and 2018.
- Species list (CSV): for data exercises in class.
