The Institute for Biodiversity and Environmental Research (IBER), Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) conducted a community outreach programme in collaboration with a local non-governmental organisation, Biodiversity and Natural History Society (BruWILD) on Friday 29th September 2023.
The main theme of the activity was to allow participants which consisted of children and young adults to get up close with ferns, learn of their morphology, and appreciate their uses and unique properties. This programme was facilitated by local and international fern experts.
The outreach programme included a sharing session on ferns and a series of hand-on activities such as viewing the plants with microscopes. It is through these activities that IBER and BruWILD aim to increase awareness of ferns. These plants are not very well known especially among the younger generation, but they have many beneficial uses to people’s livelihood. In addition, over the years, some populations of ferns are known to decline in number. Thus, through awareness, it is hoped that these enigmatic plants can be preserved for future generations.
IBER continues to conduct biodiversity research, education and conservation activities on local flora and fauna of Brunei Darussalam. It is via such initiatives and efforts that the research and conservation of these unique flora will continue to progress and contribute towards achieving the targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.