Encouraging Environmental Concern From An Early Age Through Mangrove Planting For A Sustainable Future

Educational activities grow mangroves for children to care more about the environment (doc. Lotte Mart)

JAKARTA - Embezzling awareness of environmental issues to children is an important step in creating a sustainable future.

Early education on ecosystems, biodiversity, and climate change not only forms a generation that is aware of the environment, but also instills a social responsibility to protect the earth.

In this context, various organizations and industry players have begun to take part through programs that combine child education, nature conservation, and social responsibility.

One of these efforts is reflected in the activities carried out by LOTTE Mart, which held a series of Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG)-based programs in Indonesia from May 31 to June 8, 2025.

This program focuses on community involvement, especially children, on environmental issues and sustainability through direct activities in the field.

One of its main agendas, RE: EARTH Kids Camp, is held in mangrove conservation areas, Bali Mangrove Parks, in collaboration with the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, WWF Indonesia, and local communities.

As many as 30 children aged 8'13 years participated in interactive education about the importance of marine ecosystem conservation and were directly involved in planting 500 mangrove seeds as part of coastal area restoration efforts.

"This program allows future generations to benefit from preserving marine ecosystems, and we will continue to promote ESG activities aimed at resolving global environmental challenges," explained Kim Hye Young, ESG Team Chair of LOTTE Mart in a statement to VOI.

Not only focusing on the environment, social activities are also part of this series. Starting from distributing more than 600 nutritious food packages to low-income families in Jakarta, and providing educational experiences to 40 children from underprivileged families through visits to Safari Aquarium Jakarta, in order to expand access to informal learning.

In closing, there is also the 'Global Bridge' agenda in Jakarta, an activity that brings together small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from Korea with a retail and consumer network in Indonesia.

This initiative is designed to support small-scale business growth internationally and open up space for cross-border cooperation in the food, lifestyle and beauty sectors.

The same thing was conveyed by Jin Joo-tae, which highlighted the importance of opening market access for small business actors to be able to compete globally.

"Over the past two years, we have supported more than 100 SMEs through LOTTE Mart's overseas market expansion initiative specifically for SMEs, such as Global Bridge. This shows we remain committed to expanding collaboration opportunities for Korean SMEs to access global markets," said Jin Joo-tae, Global Legal & Compliance Support Division Director.

Even though it is packaged in a promotional format, this activity still raises products that prioritize a sustainable lifestyle, such as herbal tea, ginseng, and nutritious food.

Through this series of activities, the synergy between environmental education, social contributions, and economic cooperation is a concrete effort in encouraging sustainable development agendas that touch various levels of society, from children to cross-border business actors.