14.3.3 Maintain ecosystems and their biodiversity (direct work)

Srinakharinwirot University (SWU) works directly, through research and engagement with industries, government agencies and local communities, to maintain and extend existing ecosystems and their biodiversity, of both plants and animals, especially ecosystems under threat. In 2025 this direct work included hands-on care for endangered sea turtles with the Royal Thai Navy, the installation of artificial fish homes to restore degraded coral reef areas, and the deployment of artificial rope reefs and the release of crabs to restore coastal habitats. The evidence is publicly available on the University's official pages.

Hands-on Care for Endangered Sea Turtles at the Royal Thai Navy Sea Turtle Conservation Center, Sattahip, Chonburi (16–17 November 2025)

In November 2025, SWU worked directly with the Royal Thai Navy to help maintain the habitat and biodiversity of two threatened sea turtle species in the Gulf of Thailand. On 16–17 November 2025, the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, brought faculty members and third-year students majoring in Urban Community Development to the Sea Turtle Conservation Center of the Royal Thai Navy in Sattahip District, Chonburi Province. The visit was organised as the field study for the course SO324 Development Theory.

Working side by side with the Center's staff, SWU faculty and students cleaned and scrubbed the nursery ponds where young turtles are raised before they are released to the sea, including ponds holding green turtles aged 1–2 months. This is part of the routine care that hatchlings need during their most vulnerable stage. The activity also raised participants' awareness of how to conserve sea turtles and the coastal and marine habitats they depend on, with a focus on the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), listed as Endangered, and the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

The stated aim of the activity was to help maintain and restore the existing ecosystem and the biodiversity of marine plants and sea turtles. By placing this work inside a credit-bearing course, the University links classroom learning on development with practical conservation, and builds a working partnership with a government agency responsible for protecting endangered marine species. On the second day, students also visited the Si Racha District Office to learn how local administration takes part in area development. The photographs below show the field study, the cleaning of the turtle nursery ponds and the participants at the Center.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1M79ZV5ENe/

Artificial Fish Homes to Restore Coral Reef Habitat, Ao Samaesan, Chonburi (9–10 August 2025)

SWU also works directly to maintain and extend marine ecosystems and their biodiversity through the "SWU Together for Good" initiative. On 9–10 August 2025, SWU student organisation leaders and alumni who were former student leaders built and installed artificial "fish homes" at Ao Samaesan, Sattahip District, Chonburi Province, together with the Samaesan Marine Science and Conservation Camp and the Ban Roi Sao community in Takhian Tia. The fish homes help to restore degraded coral reef areas, provide shelter and breeding grounds for fish and other marine organisms, and reduce pressure on the remaining natural reefs. A total of 65 participants learned about the importance of healthy marine ecosystems. The photographs below show the briefing and preparation of the fish homes, and their installation on the seabed.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16ZiqyxMNC/

Building and Releasing Artificial Rope Reefs and Releasing Crabs to Restore Marine Habitats, Chanthaburi (21–23 May 2025)

On 21–23 May 2025, the Student Activities Unit of the Student Affairs Division and the SWU Volunteer Center ran the "SWU Sea Conservation" project (มศว รักษ์ทะเล) at Kung Wiman Bay and nearby sites in Chanthaburi Province, working with the local fishing community of Khao Sam Phao Khwam and the Kung Krabaen Bay Mangrove Nature Study Centre.

Students learned the local fishers' technique of making artificial rope reefs and built 40 rope reefs from heavy-duty fibre rope, which they then released into the sea from local fishing boats, tying them to rocks and coral on the seabed near the mouth of Khlong Pak Nam Kracha. The dense rope tassels serve as shelter, a food source and a nursery for juvenile fish, shrimp and small crabs, helping marine animals hide from predators and grow, and so extending habitat for marine biodiversity. Students also made crab and fish homes, released crabs to help repopulate marine life, made oyster spat collectors to propagate oysters, collected litter along the shore, walked a mangrove forest nature trail and studied marine aquatic species. The photographs below show students making the rope reefs and oyster spat collectors, students on a fishing boat to release the rope reefs, and the participants with the rope reefs at the Khao Sam Phao Khwam Community Blue Swimming Crab Bank.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14tzk32KPaV/